Electronic device and control method thereof

ABSTRACT

An electronic device and a control method are described where the electronic device includes a first body having a first end and a second end; a connecting body having a third end and a fourth end, the third end being connected to the second end; a second body having a fifth end and a sixth end, the fifth end being connected to the fourth end, the second body being capable of rotating round the first body through the connecting body. The connecting body includes a connecting sub-input unit configured to acquire an input operation.

This application claims priority to Chinese patent application No.201510379519.X filed on Jun. 30, 2015, the entire contents of which areincorporated herein by reference.

The present disclosure relates to an electronic device and a controlmethod thereof, and more particularly, to an electronic device, whichincludes a first body, a connecting body, and a second body capable ofrotating round the first body through the connecting body, and therebycan switch between various modes, and a control method thereof.

BACKGROUND

With the development of information technology, various electronicdevices including a display and a touch control unit, like mobile phonesand tablet computers become increasingly popular. In conventionalelectronic devices, product form of most electronic devices is rigid,for example, most of the tablet computers or smart phones currently inmarket are plate-shaped, their (touch) display cannot be bent or folded.Even if now there has been a so-called flexible screen, it is onlyprovided on one surface of the electronic devices, product form is quiteunitary. Meanwhile, an operating mode of the conventional electronicdevices and those equipped with the flexible screen are also unitary,setting a touch screen in a predetermined region of the electronicdevices is most common, the touch screen acquires a user's touchoperation, thereby corresponding processing is executed.

SUMMARY

The electronic device includes a first body, a connecting body, and asecond body capable of rotating round the first body through theconnecting body, and thereby can switch between various modes accordingto a different usage occasion. The present disclosure also can acquirean input operation through a connecting sub-input unit disposed in theconnecting body, so that space can be used efficiently when theelectronic device is in various modes, thus flexibly controlling theelectronic device.

An embodiment of the present disclosure provides an electronic device,comprising: a first body having a first end and a second end; aconnecting body having a third end and a fourth end, the third end beingconnected to the second end; a second body having a fifth end and asixth end, the fifth end being connected to the fourth end, the secondbody being capable of rotating round the first body through theconnecting body; wherein the connecting body includes a connectingsub-input unit configured to acquire an input operation.

An embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a controlmethod for an electronic device, the control method comprising:determining a mode which the electronic device is currently in, theelectronic device including a first body having a first end and a secondend; a connecting body having a third end and a fourth end, the thirdend being connected to the second end; a second body having a fifth endand a sixth end, the fifth end being connected to the fourth end, thesecond body being capable of rotating round the first body through theconnecting body; the connecting body having a connecting sub-input unitconfigured to acquire an input operation, the electronic device at leasthaving a third mode in which the first surface of the first body, thefirst surface of the connecting body, and the first surface of thesecond body approximately form a single plane, and a fourth mode inwhich the second surface of the first body and the second surface of thesecond body are opposite; when the electronic device is in the thirdmode, responding to an input acquired by the connecting sub-input unitaccording to an instruction in a third instruction set, when theelectronic device is in the fourth mode, responding to an input acquiredby the connecting sub-input unit according to an instruction in a fourthinstruction set, wherein the third instruction set and the fourthinstruction set are at least partially different.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating basic structure of anelectronic device according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a side view schematically illustrating structure of anelectronic device according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the connecting body according to thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the first mode of the electronic deviceaccording to the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the second mode of the electronic deviceaccording to the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the third mode of the electronic deviceaccording to the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a fourth mode of the electronic deviceaccording to the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of sub-input units of respective bodies ofthe electronic device according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a second input unit of the electronicdevice according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of sub-displays of respective bodies ofthe electronic device according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a first display of the electronicdevice according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a control method for the electronicdevice according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a connecting input unit of theelectronic device according to the present disclosure.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram schematically illustrating structure of theelectronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 15A and 15B are schematic diagrams illustrating displaying of theelectronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating main steps of a display processingmethod according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram schematically illustrating structure of theelectronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 18A and 18B are schematic diagrams illustrating displaying of theelectronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosurein different modes.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating main steps of an informationprocessing method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 20A to 20B are schematic block diagrams illustrating structure ofan electronic device according to an embodiment the present disclosure.

FIGS. 21A to 21C are schematic diagrams illustrating a switching processbetween a first mode and a second mode of the electronic deviceaccording to a first embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 22 is a schematic diagram further illustrating the connecting bodyaccording to the first embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 23A to 23C are schematic diagrams illustrating a switching processbetween a first mode and a second mode of the electronic deviceaccording to a second embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 24 is a schematic diagram further illustrating the connecting bodyaccording to the second embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 25A and 25B are schematic diagrams illustrating a third mode ofthe electronic device according to the first and second embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

FIGS. 26A and 26B are schematic diagrams further illustrating theelectronic device provided with a display.

FIGS. 27A and 27B are schematic diagrams further illustrating theelectronic device provided with a sensing unit.

FIG. 28 is a flowchart illustrating a mode switching method according toan embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 29 is a plan view schematically illustrating an electronic deviceaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 30 is a side view schematically illustrating an electronic deviceaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 31 is a side view schematically illustrating the first mode of theelectronic device according to the first embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 32 is a plan view schematically illustrating the first mode of theelectronic device according to the first embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 33 is a side view schematically illustrating the second mode of theelectronic device according to the first embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 34 is a plan view schematically illustrating the second mode of theelectronic device according to the first embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 35 is a schematic diagram schematically illustrating the connectingbody of the electronic device according to the first embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIGS. 36A to 36C are schematic diagrams illustrating a switching processbetween a first mode and a second mode of the electronic deviceaccording to the first embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 37A and 37B are schematic diagrams further illustrating theelectronic device provided with a sensing unit.

FIG. 38 is a schematic diagram further illustrating the connecting bodyaccording to the second embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 39A to 39C are schematic diagrams illustrating a switching processbetween a first mode and a second mode of the electronic deviceaccording to the second embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 40 is a flowchart illustrating a mode switching method according toan embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 41 is a schematic diagram illustrating an electronic deviceaccording to an embodiment the present disclosure.

FIGS. 42A to 42C are schematic diagrams illustrating a switching processbetween a first mode and a second mode of the electronic deviceaccording to the first embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 43 is a schematic diagram further illustrating the connecting bodyaccording to the first embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 44A to 44C are schematic diagrams illustrating a switching processbetween a first mode and a second mode of the electronic deviceaccording to the second embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 45 is a schematic diagram further illustrating the connecting bodyaccording to the second embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 46A and 46B are schematic diagrams illustrating a third mode ofthe electronic device according to the first and second embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

FIGS. 47A to 47C are schematic diagrams illustrating a switching processbetween the first mode and the third mode of the electronic deviceaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 48A and 48B are schematic diagrams further illustrating theelectronic device provided with a display.

FIGS. 49A and 49B are schematic diagrams further illustrating theelectronic device provided with a sensing unit.

FIG. 50A illustrates an example of display content when an exposedregion (the non-covered part) of the display is large, FIG. 50Billustrates an example of display content when an exposed region (thenon-covered part) of the display is small, and FIG. 50C illustratesanother example of display content when an exposed region (thenon-covered part) of the display is small.

FIG. 51 is a flowchart illustrating a mode switching method according toan embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

To make those skilled in the art better understand the technicalsolutions of the present disclosure, implementations of an electronicdevice and a control method thereof according to the present disclosurewill be described in detail below with reference to the accompanyingdrawings. Of course, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, allother embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art withoutpaying inventive efforts should all fall into the protection scope ofthe present disclosure.

Hereinafter, the electronic device according to the present disclosurewill be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Theelectronic device may be such an electronic device like tablet computer,smart phone, personal digital assistant, smart wearable device. In thefollowing, for convenience of description, the smart phone will bedescribed as an example of the electronic device.

(First Implementation)

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating basic structure of anelectronic device according to the present disclosure. As shown in FIG.1, the electronic device 1 according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure comprises a first body 10, a second body 20, and a connectingbody 30. In other words, the body other than the first body 10 and thesecond body 20 in the electronic device 1 is the connecting body 30.

The first body 10 has a first end 11 and a second end 12; the connectingbody 30 has a third end 31 and a fourth end 32, the second body 20 has afifth end 21 and a sixth end 22, wherein the first end 11 to the sixthend 22 may be end surfaces of the respective bodies, and may also be atleast a part of the end surfaces. In the present disclosure, the thirdend 31 is connected to the second end 12, thereby the first body 10 canbe connected to the connecting body 30; the fifth end 21 is connected tothe fourth end 32, thereby the connecting body 30 can be connected tothe second body 20, thus the first body 10, the connecting body 30, andthe second body 20 are connected as an entirety.

FIG. 2 is a side view schematically illustrating structure of anelectronic device according to the present disclosure. As shown in FIG.2, each of the first body 10, the connecting body 30, and the secondbody 20 has a first surface and a second surface that are opposite.Specifically, the first body 10 has a first surface 10-1 and a secondsurface 10-2; the second body 20 has a first surface 20-1 and a secondsurface 20-2; the connecting section 30 has a first surface 30-1 and asecond surface 30-2, thereby, the first surface 10-1 of the first body10, the first surface 20-1 of the second body 20, and the first surface30-1 of the connecting body 30 compose a first outer surface (frontsurface) of the electronic device 1; the second surface 10-2 of thefirst body 10, the second surface 20-2 of the second body 20, and thesecond surface 30-2 of the connecting body 30 compose a second outersurface (back surface) of the electronic device 1. It should be notedthat, in the present disclosure, since the connecting body 30 isdeformable, so the second body 20 is at least capable of rotating roundthe first body through the connecting body (e.g., rotating along an Adirection or a B direction as shown in FIG. 2), thus the electronicdevice 1 can switch between different modes.

The connecting body 30 of the electronic device 1 according to anembodiment of the present disclosure will be described below in detailwith reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 3 is a perspectiveview of the connecting body according to the present disclosure. Asshown in FIG. 3, the connecting body 30 may comprise at least threerotary members 301-30 n (n is an integer larger than or equal to 3),each of the at least three rotary members 301-30 n has a self-rotaryshaft 311-31 n, respective self-rotary shafts 311-31 n of the at leastthree rotary members 301-30 n are parallel to each other. For example,when an external force applied on one rotary member 301 is vertical tothe self-rotary shaft 311 thereof and a magnitude of a component in adirection tangential to an outer surface of the one rotary member 301satisfies a second predetermined condition, the one rotary member 301can rotate around the self-rotary shaft 311 thereof. Here, the secondpredetermined condition is associated with manufacturing material,manufacturing process and other factors of the at least three rotarymembers 301-30 n. In addition, when there is no external force thatsatisfies the second predetermined condition on each of the at leastthree rotary members 301-30 n, the at least three rotary members may301-30 n probably maintain a mutual stability due to the damping, so asto ensure a relative stable state between the first body 10, the secondbody 20, and the connecting body 30 of the electronic device 1.

Furthermore, the connecting body 30 according to the first embodiment ofthe present disclosure may be composed only by the at least three rotarymembers 301-30 n. In addition, in an example of the first embodiment ofthe present disclosure, when one rotary member (e.g., rotary member 301)rotates, the other rotary members (rotary members 302-30 n) rotateaccordingly. For example, the at least three rotary members 301-30 n aregear members that engage with each other, when one gear member rotates,it will drive all other gear members that engage to rotate in linkagewith the same line speed (with the same angular velocity in the case ofthe same radius). Alternatively, when all the rotary members rotate inlinkage, rotation speeds of the respective rotary members (line speedand/or angular velocity) may probably be different due to differentengagement manners and different friction and consumption of therespective rotary members. In addition, in another example of the firstembodiment of the present disclosure, when one rotary member (e.g.,rotary member 301) rotates, at least one of the other rotary membersdoes not rotate, that is, not all the rotary members are in linkage,instead, there is at least one rotary member that is not in linkage.

Next, respective modes of the electronic device according to the presentdisclosure will be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the first mode of the electronic deviceaccording to the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 4, in the firstmode, the first surface 10-1 of the first body 10 is covered by theconnecting body 30 and the second body 20.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the second mode of the electronic deviceaccording to the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 5, in the secondmode, a surface composed by the first surface 10-1 of the first body 10and the first surface 30-1 of the connecting body 30 is covered by thesecond body 20.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the third mode of the electronic deviceaccording to the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 6, when theelectronic device 1 is in the third mode, the first surface 10-1 of thefirst body 10, the first surface 30-1 of the connecting body 30, and thefirst surface 20-1 of the second body 20 approximately form a singleplane.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a fourth mode of the electronic deviceaccording to the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 7, in the fourthmode, the second surface 10-2 of the first body 10 faces the secondsurface 20-2 of the second body 20. Specifically, the fourth mode may bethat the second surface 20-2 of the second body 20 and the secondsurface 10-2 of the first body 10 contact, and may be also that adistance between the second surface 20-2 of the second body 20 and thesecond surface 10-2 of the first body 10 is less than a predeterminedthreshold.

Hereinafter, respective input units of the electronic device accordingto the embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detailwith reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 8 is a perspectiveview of sub-input units of respective bodies of the electronic deviceaccording to the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 8, the connectingbody 30 comprises a connecting sub-input unit 230 configured to acquirea user input operation. Preferably, the second body 20 and the firstbody 10 may also have a first sub-input unit 210 and a second sub-inputunit 220, respectively. In this way, the processer (not shown) of theelectronic device 1 may perform a corresponding processing according toan input operation acquired by the respective sub-input units.Preferably, these sub-input units are a touch sensor, but they may bealso a physical key or any other form of input units, as long as theycan acquire the user's input operation. Typically, the first sub-inputunit 210, the second sub-input unit 220, and the connecting sub-inputunit 230 may be disposed on the same outer surface of the electronicdevice 1. FIG. 8 shows an example that the respective sub-input unitsare disposed on the first outer surface of the electronic device, thatis, the first sub-input unit 210 is disposed on the first surface 10-1of the first body 10, the second sub-input unit 220 is disposed on thefirst surface 20-1 of the second body 20, and the connecting sub-inputunit 230 is disposed on the first surface 30-1 of the connecting body30. However, the present disclosure is not limited to the case describedabove, at least one sub-input unit may be also disposed on the secondsurfaces of corresponding bodies, for example, the connecting sub-inputunit 230 is disposed on the second surface of the connecting body 30. Inaddition, at least one sub-input unit may be also disposed on the firstand second surfaces of corresponding bodies, for example, the secondsub-input unit 220 is disposed on the first surface 20-1 and the secondsurface 20-2 of the second body 20.

Next, preferred embodiments of the electronic device 1 will be describedin detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 9 is aperspective view of a second input unit of the electronic deviceaccording to the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 9, the electronicdevice 1 may also have a second input unit 200 on the first outersurface, for acquiring an input operation on the whole first outersurface. In this case, the first sub-input unit 210, the connectingsub-input unit 230, and the second input unit 220 compose the firstregion, the second region, and the third region on the second inputunit, respectively. By the above-described structure, it is possible toacquire an input from a user integrally on the first outer surface, sothat the user can input instructions in a larger space, achieve strongerfunctions.

In addition to the function of acquiring user input, the electronicdevice 1 according to this embodiment of the present disclosure may alsosimultaneously have a display function. FIG. 10 is a perspective view ofsub-displays of respective bodies of the electronic device according tothe present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 10, the first surface 10-1 ofthe first body 10 may comprise the first sub-display 310, the firstsurface 30-1 of the connecting body 30 may comprise the connectingsub-display 330, the first surface 20-1 of the second body 20 maycomprise the second sub-display 320. In this way, respectivesub-displays can display contents associated with processing executed bythe processer of the electronic device 1. However, the presentdisclosure is not limited to the case described above, at least onesub-display may be also disposed on the second surfaces of correspondingbodies, for example, the connecting sub-display 330 is disposed on thesecond surface 30-2 of the connecting body 30. In addition, at least onesub-input unit may be also disposed on the first and second surfaces ofcorresponding bodies, for example, the second sub-display 320 isdisposed on the first surface 20-1 and the second surface 20-2 of thesecond body 20, respectively. On the other hand, the electronic device 1according to the embodiment of the present disclosure may also compriseone or two among the first sub-display, the connecting sub-display, andthe second sub-display. For example, the electronic device according tothe embodiment of the present disclosure may have no second sub-displaydisposed on the first surface of the second body.

In an embodiment, the first sub-display 310, the second sub-display 320,and the connecting sub-display 330 may be made overlap with at least apart of the first sub-input unit 210, the second sub-input unit 220, andthe connecting input unit 230, respectively, to achieve a touch screenfunction of the first body 10, the second body 20 and the connectingbody 30.

Preferably, it is possible to set a deformable display 300 on the firstouter surface of the electronic device. FIG. 11 is a perspective view ofa first display of the electronic device according to the presentdisclosure. As shown FIG. 11, the first sub-display 310, the connectingsub-display 330, and the second sub-display 320 form the first region,the second region, and the third region of the first display 300,respectively. It should be noted that, the present disclosure is notlimited thereto, the first display 300 may cover only one or two amongthe respective sub-displays, for example, the first sub-display 310 andthe connecting sub-display 330 serve as the first region and the secondregion of the first display 300, and the second sub-display 320 isindependent of the first display 300. In this case, the first display300 may have a deformation along with the connecting body 30, thereby itcan adapt to various modes of the electronic device 1. By means ofdisposing the first display on the first outer surface, associatedcontent can be displayed in a large area in the first outer surface ofthe electronic device 1, such as playing a video etc. In addition, thefirst display 300 may overlap with at least a part of the second inputunit 200, this can achieve the touch screen function entirely on thefirst outer surface of the electronic device 1.

The electronic device 1 may store various instruction sets in a storageunit (not shown), and instructions in each instruction set indicate amapping relationship between a user input and a corresponding processingexecuted by the processer (not shown). In a preferred embodiment of thepresent disclosure, the processer can respond to an input operationacquired respectively by the first sub-input unit 210, the secondsub-input unit 220, and the connecting sub-input unit 230 (or acquiredby the second input unit 220 entirely), according to a different mode ofthe electronic device 1 and depending on instructions in a differentinstruction set. Illustration will be provided below with the third modeand the fourth mode as example.

Hereinafter, actions of the processer of the electronic device 1 will bedescribed in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, thesesteps will constitute a control method for the electronic device in thepresent disclosure. It should be noted that, illustration will beprovided below with the third mode and the fourth mode of the electronicdevice 1 as example, but in fact, it is not limited thereto, the presentdisclosure may be applied to other modes of the electronic device 1.FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a control method for the electronicdevice according to the present disclosure, as shown in FIG. 12:

First, a mode which the electronic device 1 is currently in isdetermined (step S1210). As described above, since the connecting body30 is deformable, so the second body 20 is at least capable of rotatinground the first body 10 through the connecting body 30 (e.g., rotatingalong an A direction or a B direction as shown in FIG. 2), thus theelectronic device 1 can switch between different modes. Accordingly, itis possible to set a sensor on the connecting body 30 of the electronicdevice 1, and a mode which the electronic device 1 is currently in maybe determined according to a deformation state of the connecting body30.

When the electronic device is in the third mode, an input acquired bythe connecting sub-input unit is responded according to an instructionin a third instruction set (step S1220). In this case, the electronicdevice 1 presents the user with an entire first outer surface, thus thethird instruction set can make the connecting sub-input unit, the firstsub-input unit, and the second sub-input unit as an input in common (ormaking the second input unit as an input) to perform correspondingprocessing. In this way, an input from the user can be acquired on theentire first outer surface, thus achieving various functions thatrequire a wide range.

When the electronic device is in the fourth mode, an input acquired bythe connecting sub-input unit is responded according to an instructionin the fourth instruction set (step S1230). The fourth instruction setmay be instructions that make the connecting sub-input unit 230 toacquire independently from the first sub-input unit 210 and the secondsub-input unit 220. As an example, display of the first sub-display 310and/or the second sub-display 329 may be controlled in response to aninput acquired by the connecting sub-input unit 230. For example, duringa video playback function of the electronic device 1, it is possible toslide the connecting sub-input unit 230 to adjust the volume; during animage display function, it is possible to slide the connecting sub-inputunit 230 to zoom in or zoom out a picture; during an electronic bookreading function, it is possible to slide the connecting sub-input unit230 to control page turning, etc. FIG. 13 is a perspective view of aconnecting sub-input unit of the electronic device according to thefifth embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 13, whenthe electronic device 1 is in the fourth mode, the connecting part isbent so that a first surface facing the user will form a thin stripregion along the direction of the rotary shaft. In this case, theconnecting input unit 230 preferably comprises a touch sensor, and theprocesser of the electronic device determines an input of the touchsensing unit, when a determination result indicates that the input is aslide input along the direction of the rotary shaft, various processingdescribed above are to be executed. In this way, it is possible toidentify a slide input along the direction of the rotary shaft, thusavoiding an error operation.

Through the above processing, in the electronic device that comprises afirst body, a connecting body, and a second body capable of rotatinground the first body through the connecting body, and can switch betweenvarious modes, an input operation is acquired through a connectingsub-input unit disposed in the connecting body, the electronic devicecan use space efficiently in various modes and flexibly control theelectronic devices.

(Second Implementation)

First, the electronic device according to the embodiment of the presentdisclosure will be described with reference to FIG. 14.

As shown in FIG. 14, the electronic device according to the embodimentof the present disclosure comprises: a first body 10 having a firstsurface and a second surface that are opposite; a connecting body 30having a first surface and a second surface that are opposite; and asecond body 20 having a first surface and a second surface that areopposite, and being connected to the first body through the connectingbody; wherein the electronic device has a first outer surface and asecond outer surface, the first outer surface comprises a first surfaceof the first body, a first surface of the connecting body, and a firstsurface of the second body, the second outer surface comprises a secondsurface of the first body, a second surface of the connecting body, anda second surface of the second body.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 14, the electronic device according to theembodiment of the present disclosure further comprises: a first display40 disposed at least in a part of region of the first outer surface ofthe electronic device, shown with solid line in FIG. 14.

Specifically, in the first example, the first display may be disposed inthe entire first outer surface, i.e., across three parts: the firstsurface of the first body, the first surface of the connecting body, andthe first surface of the second body. In a second example, the firstdisplay may be disposed in a part of region of the first outer surface,for example, across at least a part of the first surface of the firstbody and the first surface of the connecting body. Of course, as will beappreciated by those skilled in the art, the first display may bedisposed only on the first surface of the first body.

It should be noted that, in a case where the first display is disposedacross two bodies or three bodies, in the first example, the firstdisplay may comprise corresponding two or three display screens,respective display screens are arranged adjacent to each other closely.In the second example, the first display may comprise only a whole pieceof display screen.

In addition, the electronic device in this embodiment of the presentdisclosure has at least two modes, hereinafter described as a secondmode and a third mode, respectively. In the second mode, a second regionof the first display can be perceived by a viewer. In the third mode, athird region of the first display can be perceived by a viewer. Thethird region is larger than the second region.

Specifically, a surface composed by the first surface of the first bodyand the first surface of the connecting body in the second mode iscovered by the second body, and a second non-covered part of the firstbody corresponds to the second region. That is to say, the second regionthat can be perceived by the viewer is an exposed region of the firstdisplay in this case. In the third mode, the first surface of the firstbody is not covered. An angle between the first body and the second bodyis larger than a threshold, the threshold may be set at will by thoseskilled in the art as needed, the present disclosure makes no limitationthereto. As an example, the threshold is larger than 120 degrees. Asanother example, the threshold is larger than 150 degrees. That is tosay, in the third mode, an obtuse angle is formed between the first bodyand the second body, it even is close to 180 degrees, that is, the planeformed by the first body and the second body is approximately flat. Inaddition, the first outer surface corresponds to the third region.Likewise, the third region can be perceived by the viewer is an exposedregion of the first display in this case.

In addition, the electronic device may further have a first mode. In thefirst mode, a first region of the first display can be perceived by theviewer, and a surface composed by the first surface of the first bodyand the first surface of the connecting body is covered by the secondbody, and a first non-covered part of the first body corresponds to thefirst region. The display control processor described below is forcontrolling to display a first interface in the first region in thefirst mode.

In addition, the first mode and the second mode can be switched by amode of maintaining a distance between the sixth end and the firstsurface as smaller than the first predetermined threshold.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 14, the electronic device in thisembodiment of the present disclosure further comprises a display controlprocessor (not shown). The display control processor may be disposed inany of the first body, the second body, and the connecting body.Specifically, the display control processor is for controlling todisplay a third interface in a third region in the third mode. The thirdinterface comprises at least a first sub-interface and a secondsub-interface. In addition, the display control processor is further forcontrolling to display a second interface in the second region in thesecond mode, the second interface comprises only a third sub-interface.In other words, different than the third interface that comprises atleast two sub-interfaces, the second interface is composed by a singlesub-interface. The second interface and the third interface will bedescribed in detail later with reference to specific examples.

In addition, the electronic device in this embodiment of the presentdisclosure may further comprise a first sensing unit (not shown). Thefirst sensing unit is for sensing a parameter indicating a mode of theelectronic device, so as to generate a corresponding trigger signal.Specifically, in the first example, the first sensing unit comprises aphotosensitive unit, the photosensitive unit comprises a light detectingarray disposed corresponding to a light emitting array of the display,and is configured to determine an exposed region of the displayaccording to a region that satisfies a predetermined luminance thresholdin the light detecting array, as a parameter indicating a mode of theelectronic device. In a second example, the first sensing unit comprisesa bending detecting unit disposed in the connecting body and configuredto determine a bending state of the connecting body as a parameterindicating a mode of the electronic device.

Accordingly, in response to a trigger signal generated by the firstsensing unit and indicating that the electronic device switches from thesecond mode to the third mode, the display control processor switchesfrom the second interface to the third interface, or in response to atrigger signal indicating that the electronic device switches from thethird mode to the second mode, the display control processor switchesfrom the third interface to the second interface.

Different scenarios of the electronic device in the embodiment of thepresent disclosure will be described in detail below.

In a first scenario, the electronic device is in the second mode, andthe second interface is displayed in the second region of the firstdisplay. The second interface is a chat interface of a chat application.When the first sensing unit senses that the electronic device changesfrom the second mode to the third mode, the display control processorcorrespondingly switches the second interface to the third interface.The third interface is another interface of the chat applicationdifferent than the chat interface, such as a sharing interface thatdisplays a map and shares location. The sharing interface may have afirst sub-interface and a second sub-interface. The first sub-interfaceis, for example, an operation region to join in and quit from sharing.The second sub-interface is, for example, a shared region where sharedcontent is displayed. That is to say, in the first scenario, in thesecond mode, a first invoked interface of a certain application isdisplayed. When the electronic device switches from the second mode tothe third mode, and a second invoked interface of the same applicationdifferent than the first invoked interface is displayed. Accordingly,the user can conveniently switch between multiple interfaces of anapplication, make full use of various functions of the application,which improves user experience.

In a second scenario, the electronic device is in the second mode, andthe second interface is displayed in the second region of the firstdisplay. The second interface is a chat interface of a chat application.When the first sensing unit senses that the electronic device changesfrom the second mode to the third mode, the display control processorcorrespondingly switches the second interface to the third interface.The third interface is another interface of the chat application, suchas an extended chat interface. The extended chat interface may have afirst sub-interface and a second sub-interface. The first sub-interface,for example, corresponds to a chat interface in the second mode. Thesecond sub-interface is, for example, a shared interface for sharing.That is, in the second scenario, in the second mode, a first invokedinterface of a certain application is displayed. When the electronicdevice switches from the second mode to the third mode, a second invokedinterface of the same application is displayed, and the firstsub-interface in the second invoked interface corresponds to the firstinvoked interface. Accordingly, the user can conveniently switch betweenmultiple interfaces of an application, the interfaces before and afterthe switching have a functional continuity, which improves userexperience.

In a third scenario, the electronic device is in the second mode, andthe second interface is displayed in the second region of the firstdisplay. The second interface is a chat interface of a chat application.When the first sensing unit senses that the electronic device changesfrom the second mode to the third mode, the display control processorcorrespondingly switches the second interface to the third interface.The third interface is an interface of another application differentthan the chat application, such as an interface of a navigationapplication. The interface of the navigation application may have afirst sub-interface and a second sub-interface. The first sub-interfaceis, for example, a real view navigation interface. The secondsub-interface is, for example, a planar map navigation interface. Thatis to say, in the third scenario, in the second mode, a first invokedinterface of a certain application is displayed. When the electronicdevice switches from the second mode to the third mode, and a secondinvoked interface of a different application is displayed. Accordingly,the user can conveniently switch between multiple applications withoutexiting an application, which improves user experience.

In a fourth scenario, the electronic device is in the second mode, andthe second interface is displayed in the second region of the firstdisplay. The second interface is a chat interface of a chat application.When the first sensing unit senses that the electronic device changesfrom the second mode to the third mode, the display control processorcorrespondingly switches the second interface to the third interface.The third interface has a first sub-interface and a secondsub-interface. The first sub-interface is, for example, an interface ofanother application different than the chat application, such as anavigation interface. The second sub-interface is, for example, aninterface of yet another application different than the chatapplication, such as memo interface. That is, in the fourth scenario, inthe second mode, a first invoked interface of a certain application isdisplayed. When the electronic device switches from the second mode tothe third mode, and a second invoked interface comprising applicationinterfaces of two applications different than the aforesaid applicationis displayed. Accordingly, the user can conveniently switch betweenmultiple applications without exiting an application, which improvesuser experience.

It should be noted that, in the above, the aforesaid several scenariosare described with switching from the second mode to the third mode asan example. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, theabove scenarios may be also applied to the case of switching from thethird mode to the second mode.

In addition, should be noted that, in the various scenarios describedabove, layout, display direction, and size of respective interfaces maybe designed in various ways.

In the first example, layout between the first sub-interface and thesecond sub-interface may be designed as follows. Specifically, when theelectronic device switches from the second mode to the third mode, thedisplay control processor can control to display the first sub-interfacein the second region to which second mode corresponds, and display thesecond sub-interface in the region other than the second region in thethird region. This is especially advantageous to the second scenariodescribed above. That is to say, not only the interfaces before andafter the switching have a functional continuity, but also theinterfaces before and after the switching have a displaying continuity,which further improves user experience.

In the second example, a display direction of the display interface maybe determined with reference to a mode of the electronic device. That isto say, even if the electronic device comprises a sensing unit like agravity sensor and has the function of adaptively changing a displaydirection, it is also possible to determine whether to enable thisfunction according to a mode of the electronic device. Specifically, inthis example, the electronic device may further comprise a secondsensing unit configured to sense a spatial movement parameter of theelectronic device. The second sensing unit is, for example, a gravitysensor, an acceleration sensor and other sensors. The spatial movementparameter is, for example, an acceleration of the electronic device andother parameters. When the electronic device is in the second mode, thedisplay control unit does not respond to the spatial movement parameterto change the direction of the second interface. On the other hand, whenthe electronic device is in the third mode, the display control unitresponds to the spatial movement parameter to change the displaydirection of the third interface. That is to say, in this example, whenthe electronic device is in the second mode, the display direction ofthe electronic device is “locked”, and it may also be understood as thatthe function that the electronic device adaptively changes the displaydirection according to the spatial movement parameter is disabled. Whenthe electronic device is in the third mode, the display direction of theelectronic device is not “locked”, and it may also be understood as thatthe function that the electronic device adaptively changes the displaydirection according to the spatial movement parameter is enabled.

In a third example, on the basis of the second example described above,the electronic device may further determine layout of the firstsub-interface and the second sub-interface in the third mode accordingto the spatial movement parameter. Specifically, in this example, in thethird mode, the processing unit, in response to a first spatial movementparameter indicating that the electronic device is vertical, displaysthe first sub-interface and the second sub-interface as verticallyarranged; the processing unit, in response to a first spatial movementparameter indicating that the electronic device is horizontal, displaysthe first sub-interface and the second sub-interface as horizontallyarranged. Accordingly, layout of the first sub-interface and the secondsub-interface in the third mode can be controlled according to thespatial movement parameter of the electronic device, to make it bettermeet the user's habits, which improves user experience.

In addition, the electronic device further comprises: a first input unitdisposed at least in a second surface of the second part; a seconddisplay disposed at least in a second surface of the second body;wherein the first input unit and second display disposed at least in asecond surface of the second part are set a stacked manner. In thesecond mode, a character array (e.g., a virtual keyboard) is displayedon the second display, each position of the character array indicates acorresponding input character when the user performs a touch input, theprocesser determines a corresponding character in response to a clickinput operation on the first input unit, and the character is displayedin the second interface. Accordingly, in the second mode, the user canconveniently perform a character input operation in a case where thedisplay direction of the electronic device is “locked”, therebyincreasing input efficiency, which improves user experience.

FIGS. 15A and 15B are schematic diagrams illustrating displaying of theelectronic device according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 15A, the electronic device is in a second mode. In thesecond mode, a surface composed by the first surface of the first bodyand the first surface of the connecting body in the second mode iscovered by the second body, and a second non-covered part of the firstbody corresponds to the second region. A chat interface of a chatapplication is displayed in the second region.

In addition, in the case where a second display is also disposed in thesecond surface of the second body to form a touch display, as shown inFIG. 15B, a character array (e.g., a virtual keyboard) is displayed onthe touch display, each position of the character array indicates acorresponding input character when the user performs a touch input. Inthis case, if a click input operation on the virtual keyboard isreceived through the touch display, then the processer can determine acorresponding character, and the character is displayed in the firstdisplay. That is to say, in the second mode, the user can perform aninput operation like character editing.

In this case, if the first sensing unit senses that the electronicdevice changes from the second mode to the third mode and generates acorresponding trigger signal, then the display control processorswitches the second interface to the third interface in response to thetrigger signal, as shown in FIG. 15B. In FIG. 15B, the electronic devicenot only changes from the second mode to the third mode, but alsochanges from the vertical direction to the horizontal direction. Thus,the display interface that comprises the first sub-interface and thesecond sub-interface is displayed in the third region, and the thirdregion is displayed horizontally, wherein the first sub-interface andthe second sub-interface are displayed as horizontally arranged.

The electronic device according to the embodiment of the presentdisclosure is described above with reference to FIGS. 14 and 15. Theelectronic device comprises the first body and the second body connectedthrough the connecting body, a display is disposed on the first surfaceof the first body, and a different region of the display is perceived bythe viewer in a different mode of the electronic device, thereby a newproduct form comprising at least two modes is provided, which therebyenriches user selection, improves user experience.

Further, in the electronic device according to the embodiment of thepresent disclosure, a corresponding interface can be displayed accordingto a mode which the electronic device is in, so that display content ofthe electronic device adapts to its mode, which thereby facilitates userviewing and using, increases operating efficiency, and further improvesuser experience.

Hereinafter, a display processing method according to the embodiment ofthe present disclosure will be described with reference to FIG. 16. Thedisplay processing method according to the embodiment of the presentdisclosure may be applied to an electronic device. The electronic devicecomprises: a first body 10 having a first surface and a second surfacethat are opposite; a connecting body 30 having a first surface and asecond surface that are opposite; and a second body 20 having a firstsurface and a second surface that are opposite, and being connected tothe first body through the connecting body; wherein the electronicdevice has a first outer surface and a second outer surface, the firstouter surface comprises a first surface of the first body, a firstsurface of the connecting body, and a first surface of the second body,the second outer surface comprises a second surface of the first body, asecond surface of the connecting body, and a second surface of thesecond body; a first display is disposed at least in a part of region ofthe first outer surface of the electronic device, the electronic devicehas at least two modes, a second mode and a third mode, respectively. Inthe second mode, a second region of the first display can be perceivedby a viewer. In the third mode, a third region of the first display canbe perceived by a viewer. The third region is larger than the secondregion.

As shown in FIG. 16, first, in step S310, a parameter indicating a modeof the electronic device is sensed.

Next, in step S320, it is determined whether the electronic device is inthe second mode or the third mode based on the parameter.

When it is determined that the electronic device is in the third mode,it proceeds to step S330, a third interface is displayed in the thirdregion, the third interface has a first sub-interface and a secondsub-interface.

In an embodiment, the display processing method further comprises: whenit is determined that the electronic device is in the second mode, asecond interface is displayed in the second region, the second interfacehas only a third sub-interface; a first trigger signal indicating thatthe electronic device changes from the second mode to the third mode isreceived; in response to the first trigger signal, a first displayswitching signal is generated; and in response to the first displayswitching signal, a second interface is displayed on the second region,the second interface comprises only the third sub-interface.

In another embodiment, the display processing method further comprises:when it is determined that the electronic device is in the third mode, athird interface is displayed; a second trigger signal indicating thatthe electronic device changes from the third mode to the second mode isreceived; in response to the second trigger signal, a second displayswitching signal is generated; and in response to the second displayswitching signal, a second interface is displayed on the second region,the second interface comprises only the third sub-interface.

In another embodiment, when it is determined that the electronic deviceis in the second mode, the second interface is displayed in the secondregion, the second interface comprises only the third sub-interface, thedisplay processing method further comprises: a spatial movementparameter of the electronic device is sensed; in the second mode, thedirection of the second interface is not changed in response to thespatial movement parameter; in the third mode, the direction of thesecond interface is changed in response to the spatial movementparameter.

In another embodiment, the electronic further has a first mode. In thefirst mode, a first region of the first display can be perceived by theviewer, and a surface composed by the first surface of the first bodyand the first surface of the connecting body is covered by the secondbody, and a second non-covered part of the first body corresponds to thefirst region. The display processing method further comprises: it isdetermined the electronic device is in the first mode, the second mode,or the third mode based on the aforesaid parameter; and when theelectronic device is in the first mode, the first interface iscontrolled to be displayed in the first region.

The display processing method according to the embodiment of the presentdisclosure is described above with reference to FIG. 16. In the displayprocessing method according to the embodiment of the present disclosure,a corresponding interface can be displayed according to a mode which theelectronic device is in, so that display content of the electronicdevice adapts to its mode, which thereby facilitates user viewing andusing, increases operating efficiency, and further improves userexperience.

(Third Implementation)

First, the electronic device according to the embodiment of the presentdisclosure will be described with reference to FIG. 17.

As shown in FIG. 17, the electronic device according to the embodimentof the present disclosure comprises: a first body 10 having a firstsurface and a second surface that are opposite; a connecting body 30;and a second body 20 having a first surface and a second surface thatare opposite, and being connected to the first body through theconnecting body; a first display 40 disposed at least in the firstsurface of the first body; a first input unit 25 disposed at least inthe second surface of the second body; wherein the electronic device hasa first outer surface and a second outer surface, the first outersurface comprises the first surface of the first body and the firstsurface of the second body, the second outer surface comprises thesecond surface of the first body and the second surface of the secondbody.

Optionally, the first body has a first end and a second end; theconnecting body has a third end and a fourth end, the third end isconnected to the second end; the second body has a fifth end and a sixthend, the fifth end is connected to the fourth end, the second body is atleast capable of rotating round the first body based on the connectingbody.

In addition, the electronic device may at least have a first mode, inwhich a first surface of the first body is covered by the connectingbody and the second body, and a second mode, in which a surface composedby the first surface of the first body and a first surface of theconnecting body is covered by the second body.

In addition, the electronic device may further have a third mode. In thethird mode, the first surface of the first body is not covered. An anglebetween the first body and the second body is larger than a threshold,which may be set at will by those skilled in the art as needed, thepresent disclosure makes no limitation thereto. As an example, thethreshold is larger than 120 degrees. As another example, the thresholdis larger than 150 degrees. That is to say, in the third mode, an obtuseangle is formed between the first body and the second body, it even isclose to 180 degrees, that is, the plane formed by the first body andthe second body is approximately flat.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 17, the electronic device according to theembodiment of the present disclosure further comprises: a first display40 disposed at least in the first surface of the first body, shown withsolid line in FIG. 17. The first display is disposed at least in thefirst surface of the first body. It should be noted that, although inFIG. 17, the first display is shown as disposed in a part of region ofthe first surface of the first body, in fact, it may be disposed in theentire region of the first surface of the first body. In addition, inthe first example, the first display may be disposed in only the firstsurface of the first body. In the second example, as described above,the connecting body also has a first body and a second body that areopposite to each other, and the first display may be disposed at leastin a part of the first surface of the first body and the first surfaceof the connecting body. In other words, the first display may bedisposed across two bodies: the first body and the connecting body. Inthe third example, the first display may be disposed in the firstsurface of the first body, the first surface of the connecting body, andthe first surface of the second body. In other words, the first displaymay be disposed across three bodies: the first body, the connectingbody, and the second body.

It should be noted that, in the case where the first display is disposedacross two bodies or three bodies, in the first example, the firstdisplay may comprise corresponding two or three display screens,respective display screens are arranged adjacent to each other closely.In the second example, the first display may comprise only a whole pieceof display screen.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 17, the electronic device according to theembodiment of the present disclosure further comprises: a first inputunit 25 disposed at least in the second surface of the second body,shown with dotted line in FIG. 17. It should be noted that, although inFIG. 17, the first input unit is shown as disposed in a part of regionof the second surface of the second body, in fact, it may be disposed inthe entire region of second surface of the second body. The first inputunit may be for example a touch control unit, like a touch panel.Specifically, in the first example, the first input unit may be disposedin only second surface of the second body. In the second example, thefirst input unit may be disposed at least in a part of the secondsurface of the second body and the second surface of the connectingbody. In other words, the first input unit may be disposed across twobodies: the first body and the connecting body. In the third example,the first input unit may be disposed in the second surface of the firstbody, the second surface of the connecting body, and the second surfaceof the second body. In other words, the first input unit may be disposedacross three bodies: the first body, the connecting body, and the secondbody.

Likewise, it should be noted that, in the case where the first inputunit is disposed across two bodies or three bodies, the first input unitmay comprise corresponding two or three touch panels, or the first inputunit may comprise only a whole piece of touch panel.

In addition, optionally, the electronic device may further comprise: asecond display disposed at least in the second surface of the secondbody. Similarly, the second display may be disposed only in the secondsurface of the second body, or disposed in the second surface of thefirst body and the second surface of the first connecting body, ordisposed in second body of the first body, the second surface of theconnecting body, and the second surface of the second body.

It should be noted that, no matter it is disposed in which way, thefirst input unit and the second display disposed on the second surfaceof the body may be set in a stacked manner. That is to say, in the casethat the first input unit is a touch control unit, it is possible to seta touch display on the second surface of the second body.

In addition, optionally, the electronic device may further comprise: asecond input unit disposed at least in the first surface of the firstbody. Similarly, the second input unit may be disposed only in the firstsurface of the first body, or disposed in the first surface of the firstbody and the first surface of the connecting body, or disposed in firstsurface of the first body, the first surface of the connecting body, andthe first surface of the second body.

Also, it should be noted that, no matter it is disposed in which way,the second input unit and the first display disposed on the firstsurface of the body may be set in a stacked manner. That is to say, inthe case that the second input unit is a touch control unit, it ispossible to set a touch display on the first surface of the first body.And it should be noted that, when the second input unit and the firstdisplay are set in a stacked manner, the first display will not affectacquisition and input of the second input unit, the second input unitwill not affect the first display being perceived by the viewer.

In addition, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, as describedabove, the electronic device may have at least a first mode and a secondmode. In a first mode the first body and the second body have a firstrelative positional relationship. In a second mode the first body andthe second body have a second relative positional relationship. In thefirst mode, a first covered part of the first display and the firstinput unit face the same direction. In the second mode, a secondnon-covered part of the first display and the first input unit face thesame direction. Area of a first non-covered part of the display isdifferent than area of a second non-covered part of the display. Forexample, area of the first non-covered part is smaller than area of thesecond non-covered.

In addition, the electronic device according to the embodiment of thepresent disclosure may further comprise a processer. Accordingly, in thefirst mode, the processer can respond to an input of the first inputunit through an instruction in a first instruction set. In the secondmode, the processer can respond to an input of the first input unitthrough an instruction in a second instruction set. The firstinstruction set and the second instruction set are at least partiallydifferent.

Specifically, the processer may comprise a display control processorconfigured to control a change of display content on the first displayin response to an input to first input unit.

More specifically, in the first mode, the display control processor maychange display content on the first display in response to a slide inputoperation on the first input unit. On the other hand, in the secondmode, the display control processor can determine a correspondingcharacter in response to a click input operation on the first inputunit, and display the character on the first display.

In addition, the electronic device according to the embodiment of thepresent disclosure may further comprise a first sensing unit. The firstsensing unit is configured to sense a parameter indicating a mode of theelectronic device and generate a corresponding trigger signal. Theprocesser responds to an input on the first input unit through aninstruction in a second instruction set in response to a first triggersignal indicating that the electronic device switches from the firstmode to the second mode; and responds to an input on the first inputunit through an instruction in a first instruction set in response to asecond trigger signal indicating that the electronic device switchesfrom the second mode to the first mode.

Specifically, in the first example, the first sensing unit may comprisea photosensitive unit, the photosensitive unit comprises a lightdetecting array disposed corresponding to a light emitting array of thedisplay, and is configured to determine an exposed region of the displayaccording to a region that satisfies a predetermined luminance thresholdin the light detecting array, as a parameter indicating a mode of theelectronic device.

In a second example, the first sensing unit may comprise a bendingdetecting unit disposed in the connecting body and configured todetermine a bending state of the connecting body as a parameterindicating a mode of the electronic device.

FIGS. 18A and 18B are schematic diagrams illustrating operating mannersand display content of the electronic device according to the embodimentof the present disclosure in different modes.

As shown in FIG. 18A, the electronic device is in a first mode. In thefirst mode, a first non-covered part of the first display and the firstinput unit face the same direction. And the first non-covered part hasrelatively small area. In this first mode, a display content isdisplayed on the first display. In this case, an operation of a firstmode (such as a slide input operation) is received through the firstinput unit, then the display control processor correspondingly changesthe displaying of the first display through an instruction in the firstinstruction set in response to the slide input operation. For example,when the display content is a first notifying message, the displaycontrol processor can switch the first notifying message to a secondnotifying message in response to the slide input operation.

In addition, optionally, in the first mode shown in FIG. 18A, if anoperation of a second mode (such as a click input operation) differentthan the first mode is received through the first input unit, then theprocesser may make no processing.

As shown in FIG. 18B, the electronic device is in the second mode. Inthe second mode, a second non-covered part of the first display and thefirst input unit face the same direction. And the second non-coveredpart has relatively large area. In this second mode, display contentdisplayed on the first display is more than that displayed on the firstdisplay in the first mode as shown in FIG. 18A, information amount islarger. In this case, if an operation of a second mode (such as a clickinput operation) is received through the first input unit, then theprocesser correspondingly changes the displaying of the second displaythrough an instruction in the second instruction set in response to theclick input operation.

In addition, in the case where a second display is also disposed in thesecond surface of the second body to form a touch display, a characterarray may be displayed on the touch display, each position of thecharacter array indicates a corresponding input character when the userperforms a touch input. Specifically, in FIG. 18B, illustration is madewith the character array being a virtual keyboard as an example. In thiscase, if a click input operation on the virtual keyboard is receivedthrough the touch display, then the processer can determine acorresponding character, and the character is displayed in the firstdisplay. That is to say, in the second mode, the user can perform aninput operation like character editing.

In addition, optionally, in the second mode shown in FIG. 18B, if anoperation of a first mode (such as a slide input operation) differentthan the second mode is received through the first input unit, since thesecond instruction set may probably comprise no instructioncorresponding to the operation of the first mode, then the processer maymake no processing.

As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, although descriptionis provided above with operations of two different modes, slide inputoperation and click input operation, as examples, the present disclosureis not limited thereto. Instead, in the electronic device according tothe embodiment of the present disclosure, the first input unit canreceive different modes of input operations in different modes, and theprocesser can respond through instructions in different instructionsets. In addition, in the case where the first input unit and theoptional second display form a touch display in a stacked way, in thefirst mode, the second display may be disabled, so that the touchdisplay serves as only a touch panel, thus saving power of theelectronic device. In the second mode, the second display can displaycontent corresponding to an operation manner of the second mode, such asa virtual keyboard etc., so that it assists in user input. That is tosay, the touch display supports a different function in a differentmode.

Specifically, in the first example, as described above, the firstsensing unit senses a parameter indicating a mode of the electronicdevice. As long as the first sensing unit senses that the mode of theelectronic device changes, the processer accordingly changes aresponding mode to an input of the first input unit. For example, aslong as the first sensing unit senses that the electronic deviceswitches to the second mode, the processer accordingly changes aresponding mode to an input of the first input unit, for example, itresponds through an instruction in the second instruction set. Further,if the second display is disabled in the former mode, the processer maytrigger to enable the second display.

In the second example, as described above, the electronic device mayhave the first mode, the second mode, and the third mode. When the firstsensing unit senses that the mode of the electronic device changes, theprocesser determines whether the mode before change is a specified mode.Only when the electronic device changes from a specified mode to anothermode, the processer accordingly changes a responding mode to an input ofthe first input unit. For example, only when the electronic deviceswitches from the first mode to the second mode, the processeraccordingly changes a responding mode to an input of the first inputunit, for example, it responds through an instruction in the secondinstruction set. Further, if the second display is disabled in theformer mode, the processer may trigger to enable the second display.

In the third example, when the first sensing unit senses that the modeof the electronic device changes, the processer further determineswhether a specific application is running on the electronic device inthe mode before change occurs. Only when a specific application isrunning on the electronic device in the mode before change occurs, theprocesser accordingly changes a responding mode to an input of the firstinput unit. For example, only when the electronic device switches from acertain mode to the second mode and an application that supportscharacter input is running in the mode before change occurs, theprocesser accordingly changes a responding mode to an input of the firstinput unit, for example, it responds through an instruction in thesecond instruction set. Further, if the second display is disabled inthe former mode, the processer may trigger to enable the second display.

Accordingly, the electronic device according to the embodiment of thepresent disclosure comprises the first body and the second bodyconnected through the connecting body, a display is disposed on thefirst surface of the first body, and an input unit is disposed in thesecond surface of the second body, thereby a new product form comprisinga display and input unit is provided, which thereby enriches userselection, improves user experience.

Further, in the electronic device according to the embodiment of thepresent disclosure, when an input signal is received, response can bemade through instructions in different instruction sets according to acurrent mode of the electronic device, so that the operating mode of theelectronic device having multiple modes adapts to its mode, so that theuser can control the electronic device with a simple operation that meetthe user's cognition habits, which thereby increases operatingefficiency, and further improves user experience.

Hereinafter, an information processing method according to theembodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference toFIG. 19.

The display processing method according to the embodiment of the presentdisclosure may be applied to an electronic device. The electronic devicecomprises: a first body having a first surface and a second surface thatare opposite; a connecting body; and a second body having a firstsurface and a second surface that are opposite, and being connected tothe first body through the connecting body; a first display disposed atleast in the first surface of the first body; a first input unitdisposed at least in the second surface of the second body; wherein theelectronic device has a first outer surface and a second outer surface,the first outer surface comprises the first surface of the first bodyand the first surface of the second body, the second outer surfacecomprises the second surface of the first body and the second surface ofthe second body.

In addition, the electronic device may at least have a first mode and asecond mode. In the first mode, the first body and the second body havea first relative positional relationship. In the second mode, the firstbody and the second body have a second relative positional relationship.

As shown in FIG. 19, first, in step S310, an input signal is received.Next, in step S320, it is determined whether the electronic device is inthe first mode or the second mode based on the parameter. When theelectronic device is in the first mode, it proceeds to step S330, aresponse is made to the input signal through an instruction in a firstinstruction set; when the electronic device is in the second mode, itproceeds to step S340, a response is made to the input signal through aninstruction in a second instruction set. The first instruction set andthe second instruction set are at least partially different.

In one embodiment, specifically, in the first mode, in response to aninput signal indicating a slide input operation, display content on thefirst display is changed. In the second mode, in response to an inputsignal indicating a click input operation, a corresponding character isdetermined, and the character is displayed on the first display.

In another embodiment, when it is determined that the electronic deviceis in the first mode, a parameter indicating a mode of the electronicdevice is detected to generate a corresponding trigger signal. Responseto the input signal is made through an instruction in a secondinstruction set in response to a first trigger signal indicating thatthe electronic device switches from the first mode to the second mode.

In another embodiment, when it is determined that the electronic deviceis in the second mode, a parameter indicating a mode of the electronicdevice is detected to generate a corresponding trigger signal. Responseto the input signal is made with an instruction in a first instructionset in response to a second trigger signal indicating that theelectronic device switches from the second mode to the first mode.

Specific operations of respective steps of the information processingmethod have already been described in the detail description for theelectronic device with reference to FIGS. 17 and 18, repetition isneedless.

Further, in the information processing method according to theembodiment of the present disclosure, when an input signal is received,a response can be made with instructions in different instruction setsaccording to a current mode of the electronic device, so that theoperating mode of the electronic device having multiple modes adapts toits mode, so that the user can control the electronic device with asimple operation that meet the user's cognition habits, which therebyincreases operating efficiency, and further improves user experience.

(Fourth Implementation)

Hereinafter, the embodiments of the present disclosure will be describedin detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 20A shows a schematic structural diagram illustrating an electronicdevice 1 according to an embodiment the present disclosure. Generally,the electronic device 1 according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure may be such an electronic device like tablet computer, smartphone, personal digital assistant, smart wearable device. In thefollowing, for convenience of description, the smart phone will bedescribed as an example of the electronic device.

As shown in FIG. 20A, the electronic device 1 according to an embodimentof the present disclosure may comprise a first body 10, a second body20, and a connecting body 30. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 20A, thefirst body 10 may have a first end 11 and a second end 12, wherein thefirst end 11 may be a free end, and the second end 12 may be connectedto a third end 31 of the connecting body 30. The connecting body 30 mayhave a third end 31 and a fourth end 32, wherein the third end 31 of theconnecting body 30 may be connected to the second end 12 of the firstbody 10, and the fourth end 32 of the connecting body 30 may beconnected to a fifth end 131 of the second body 20, the connecting body30 may rotate round the first body 10. The second body 20 may have afifth end 131 and a sixth end 132, wherein the fifth end 131 may beconnected to the fourth end 32 of the connecting body 30, and the sixthend 132 of the second body 20 may be a free end, the second body 20 iscapable of moving round the first body 10 by means of the connectingbody 30. Additionally, it should be noted that the term “end” usedherein refers to a part in a certain range of respective end surfaces ofthe first body 10, the second body 20, and the connecting body 30. Forexample, the first end 11 of the first body may be at least a sidesurface part of the electronic device 1 around the first end 11 of thefirst body.

Specifically, FIG. 20B shows a schematic structural block diagram of theelectronic device 1 according to an example of the present disclosure.As shown in FIG. 20B, the second end 12 of the first body 10 may beconnected to the third end 31 of the connecting body 30 through a firstconnecting member 140, the first connecting member 140 can enable thefirst body 10 and the second body 20 to rotate round each other, therebya first surface of the first body 10 and a first surface of the secondbody 20 may be close to or away from each other relatively. And theconnecting body 30 and the second body 20 may be connected through asecond connecting member 150, the relative rotation of the connectingbody 30 and the second body 20 can make the first surface of theconnecting body 30 and the first surface of the second body 20 be closeto or away from each other relatively. In this example, when theelectronic device has a display screen, the first surface of the firstbody 10, the first surface of the connecting body 30, and the firstsurface of the second body 20 may be a surface on which the electronicdevice 1 has the display screen.

In other embodiments of the present disclosure, the connecting body 30may be composed by a plurality of rotary members and a non-rotary membertherein between, wherein rotary members that implement a connectionbetween the connecting body 30 and the first body 10 and a connectionbetween the connecting body 30 and the second body 20 may be uniformlyconsidered to a compose member of the connecting body 30. In otherwords, in other embodiments of the present disclosure, the body otherthan the first body 10 and the second body 20 in the electronic device 1may be all considered as the connecting body 30.

The electronic device 1 as shown in FIG. 20A may have at least a firstrotation mode and a second rotation mode. Specifically, in the firstrotation mode, the electronic device 1 is capable of implementing arelative rotation between a first body and a second body of theelectronic device 1 with a rotation axis being at a first position ofthe connecting body 30. The first body comprises the first body 10 and afirst connecting sub-body; the second body comprises the second body 20and a second connecting sub-body; the first connecting sub-body and thesecond connecting sub-body are formed by dividing the connecting body 30at the first position. In the second rotation mode, the electronicdevice 1 is capable of implementing a relative rotation between a thirdbody and a fourth body with a rotation axis being at a second positionof the connecting body 30. The third body comprises the first body 10and a third connecting sub-body; the fourth body comprises the secondbody 20 and a fourth connecting sub-body; the third connecting sub-bodyand the fourth connecting sub-body are formed by dividing the connectingbody 30 at the second position.

For example, in one embodiment of the disclosure, as shown in FIG. 20A,the first position may be a position on the connecting body 30 where adotted line 123 is drawn. In this case, the first position divides theconnecting body 30 into the first connecting sub-body and the secondconnecting sub-body. The connecting sub-body next to the first body 10is the first connecting sub-body, and the connecting sub-body next tothe second body 20 is the second connecting sub-body. The first body 10and the first connecting sub-body constitute the first body 160, and thesecond body 20 and the second connecting sub-body constitute the secondbody 170. In the present embodiment, the second position may be aposition on the connecting body 30 where a dotted line 124 is drawn. Inthis case, the second position divides the connecting body 30 into thethird connecting sub-body and the fourth connecting sub-body. Theconnecting sub-body next to the first body 10 is the third connectingsub-body, and the connecting sub-body next to the second body 20 is thefourth connecting sub-body. The first body 10 and the third connectingsub-body constitute the third body, and the second body 20 and thefourth connecting sub-body constitute the fourth body. In general, thefirst position is closer to the first body 10 than the second position.In the first rotation mode of the electronic device, the electronicdevice 1 may use the line where the first position resides as itsrotation axis, so as to make the first body and the second body rotateround each other, such that the second body can partially cover a firstsurface of the first body. In the second rotation mode of the electronicdevice, the electronic device 1 may use the line where the secondposition resides as its rotation axis, so as to make the third body andthe fourth body rotate round each other, such that the fourth body canpartially cover a first surface of the third body.

In one embodiment of the disclosure, the electronic device may also havea first mode and a second mode. In the first mode, the electronic device1 rotates in the first rotation mode, and a maximum distance betweencorresponding points of the first body 10 and the second body 20 is lessthan a first threshold. In the second mode, the electronic device 1rotates in the second rotation mode, and a maximum distance betweencorresponding points of the first body 10 and the second body 20 is lessthan a first threshold. The exposed region on the first surface of thefirst body of the electronic device in the first mode is smaller thanthat in the second mode.

Specifically, FIG. 21A to 21C are schematic diagrams illustrating afirst mode, a switching process from the first mode to a second mode anda second mode of the electronic device 1 according to a first embodimentof the present disclosure. FIG. 21A illustrates the first mode of theelectronic device 1 according to the first embodiment of the presentdisclosure, FIG. 21C illustrates the second mode of the electronicdevice according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure, andFIG. 21B illustrates an arbitrary mode during a switching processbetween the first mode and the second mode according to the firstembodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 21A, in the first mode, a first surface 100 of thefirst body 10 is covered by the connecting body 30 and the second body20. As shown in FIG. 21C, in the second mode, a surface composed by thefirst surface 1 of the first body 10 and a first surface 300 of theconnecting body 30 is covered by the second body 20. As will beappreciated that, coverage in the first mode and the second modecomprises a total coverage and a partial coverage. Specifically, whenthe second body 20 is short enough, in the second mode shown in FIG.21C, a surface composed by the first surface 100 of the first body 10and a first surface 300 of the connecting body 30 being covered by thesecond body 20 may be that the second body 20 covers only the firstsurface 300 of the connecting body 30.

As shown in FIG. 21B, in an arbitrary mode in a switching processbetween the first mode and the second mode, because there is dampingbetween respective members that compose the connecting body 30, so thearbitrary mode is a mode that can maintain stable without an externalforce. Based on the same reasons, in this case, the first mode and thesecond mode also are modes that can maintain stable without an externalforce. The present disclosure is not limited thereto, the first mode,the second mode, and the arbitrary mode during a switching processbetween the first mode and the second mode may probably be modes thatrequire an external force to maintain stable. Configuration of theconnecting body 30 will be described below in detail with reference tothe accompanying drawings.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 21A to 21C, in the first mode and thesecond mode, a maximum distance between corresponding points of thefirst body 10 and the second body 20 is less than a first predeterminedthreshold L. As will be appreciated, the corresponding points of thefirst body 10 and the second body 20 are a pair of intersection pointsof a straight line that vertically passes through a plane where thefirst body 10 and the second body 20 reside on the aforesaid plane. Inthe electronic device according to the first embodiment of the presentdisclosure as shown in FIG. 21A to 21C, the first body 10 and the secondbody 20 are capable of being in an approximate fitting in the firstmode, the second mode, and an arbitrary state between the two. That is,the first threshold L may be 5 mm or less.

In one case, in a process that the electronic device switches from thefirst mode to the second mode through the arbitrary mode, a distancebetween the sixth end 22 of the second body 20 and the first surface 100of the first body 10 is maintained as smaller than the firstpredetermined threshold. The distance between the sixth end 22 of thesecond body 20 and the first surface 100 is a distance between any pointon the sixth end 22 and a corresponding point on the first body 10.

In another case, when switching between the first mode and the secondmode, a distance between the first surface 100 of the first body 10 anda first surface 200 of the second body 20 is also smaller than the firstpredetermined threshold. That is to say, in this case, the first body 10and the second body 20, on the whole, slide relatively in parallel toexecute mode switching. In the following, configuration of theconnecting body 30 will be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawing to illustrate correspondence between a different mode switchingprocess and configuration of the connecting body 30.

In addition, in the mode switching process shown in FIG. 21A to 21C, anexternal force needs to be applied on the electronic device.Specifically, in the first mode shown in FIG. 21A, when an externalforce F that has a component in a direction from the sixth end 22 to thefifth end 21 is applied on the second body 20, and a magnitude of thecomponent of the external force satisfies a first predeterminedcondition, the electronic device switches from the first mode to thesecond mode. Likewise, in the second mode shown in FIG. 21C, when anexternal force F that has a component in a direction from the fifth end21 to the sixth end 22 is applied on the second body 20, and a magnitudeof the component of the external force satisfies a first predeterminedcondition, the electronic device switches from the second mode to thefirst mode. As will be appreciated, the external force applied on thesecond body 20 of the electronic device is transmitted to the connectingbody 30 to overcome the damping between respective members of theconnecting body 30. Configuration of the connecting body 30 will bedescribed below with reference to the accompanying drawing, toillustrate correspondence between the force that causes a mode switchingto the electronic device and the configuration of the connecting body30.

FIG. 22 is a schematic diagram further illustrating the connecting bodyaccording to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown inFIG. 22, the connecting body 30 according to the first embodiment of thepresent disclosure may comprise at least three rotary members 301-30 n(n is an integer larger than or equal to 3), each of the at least threerotary members 301-30 n has a self-rotary shaft 311-31 n, respectiveself-rotary shafts 311-31 n of the at least three rotary members 301-30n are parallel to each other. For example, when an external forceapplied on one rotary member 301 is vertical to the self-rotary shaft311 thereof and a magnitude of a component in a direction tangential toan outer surface of the one rotary member 301 satisfies a secondpredetermined condition, the one rotary member 301 can rotate around theself-rotary shaft 311 thereof. Here, the second predetermined conditionis associated with manufacturing material, manufacturing process andother factors of the at least three rotary members 301-30 n. Inaddition, when there is no external force that satisfies the secondpredetermined condition on each of the at least three rotary members301-30 n, the at least three rotary members may 301-30 n probablymaintain a mutual stability due to the damping, so as to ensure arelative stable state between the first body 10, the second body 20, andthe connecting body 30 of the electronic device 1.

As shown above with reference to FIG. 21A to 21C, the external forceapplied on the second body 20 is for making at least one rotary memberin the connecting body 30 satisfy the aforesaid second predeterminedcondition and thereby rotate around the self-rotary shaft thereof. Sincein a process of transmitting the external force applied on the secondbody 20 to at least one rotary member in the connecting body 30, theremay be a direction difference (that is, the direction from the sixth end22 to the fifth end 21 may probably be different than the directionvertical to the self-rotary shaft thereof and tangential to an outersurface of the one rotary member) or other loss, the first predeterminedcondition may be larger than the second predetermined condition.

Furthermore, in the first embodiment of the present disclosure, theconnecting body 30 according to the first embodiment of the presentdisclosure may be composed only by the at least three rotary members301-30 n. In addition, in an example of the first embodiment of thepresent disclosure, when one rotary member (e.g., rotary member 301)rotates, the other rotary members (rotary members 302-30 n) rotateaccordingly. For example, the at least three rotary members 301-30 n aregear members that engage with each other, when one gear member rotates,it will drive all other gear members that engage to rotate in linkagewith the same line speed (with the same angular velocity in the case ofthe same radius). Alternatively, when all the rotary members rotate inlinkage, rotation speeds of the respective rotary members (line speedand/or angular velocity) may probably be different due to differentengagement manners and different friction and consumption of therespective rotary members. In addition, in another example of the firstembodiment of the present disclosure, when one rotary member (e.g.,rotary member 301) rotates, at least one of the other rotary membersdoes not rotate, that is, not all the rotary members are in linkage,instead, there is at least one rotary member that is not in linkage.

In a case where all the rotary members of the connecting body 30 are inlinkage, because rotation of one rotary member causes all the otherrotary members to rotate at the same or different rotation speed, so inthe mode switching process shown in FIG. 21A to 2C, the first body 10and the second body 20, on a whole, cannot maintain sliding in parallel,instead, since rotation of all the rotary members in the connecting body30 has fluctuation. In contrast, in a case where there is at least onerotary member that is not in linkage in the connecting body 30,probably, only rotary members in a folded region of the connecting body30 rotate, rotary members in the other regions of the connecting body 30do not rotate in linkage, thus implementing the mode switching processshown in FIG. 21A to 2C.

FIGS. 23A to 23C are schematic diagrams illustrating a switching processbetween the first mode and the second mode of the electronic deviceaccording to a second embodiment of the present disclosure.Specifically, FIG. 23A illustrates the first mode of the electronicdevice according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure,FIG. 23C illustrates the second mode of the electronic device accordingto the second embodiment of the present disclosure, and FIG. 23Billustrates an arbitrary mode during a switching process between thefirst mode and the second mode according to the second embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

Similar to the electronic device according to the first embodiment ofthe present disclosure shown in FIG. 21A to 2C, as shown in FIG. 23A, inthe first mode, a first surface 100 of the first body 10 is covered bythe connecting body 30 and the second body 20. As shown in FIG. 23C, inthe second mode, a surface composed by the first surface 100 of thefirst body 10 and a first surface 300 of the connecting body 30 iscovered by the second body 20.

Likewise, similar to the electronic device according to the firstembodiment of the present disclosure shown in FIG. 21A to 21C, thearbitrary mode in a switching process between the first mode and thesecond mode may be is a mode that can maintain stable without anexternal force, or a mode that requires an external force to maintainstable.

It should be noted that, the electronic device according to the secondembodiment of the present disclosure as shown in FIGS. 23A to 23Cdiffers from the electronic device according to the first embodiment ofthe present disclosure as shown in FIG. 21A to 21C in: sinceconfiguration of the connecting body 30 is different than that of theconnecting body of the electronic device according to the firstembodiment described with reference to FIG. 22, so in the process ofswitching from the first mode shown in FIG. 23A to the second mode shownin FIG. 23C, the first body 10 and the second body 20, on the whole, donot slide in parallel in an approximate fitting, instead, only the sixthend 22 of the second body 20 slides in an approximate fitting with thefirst body 10. That is to say, always there is a first angle α betweenthe first surface 100 of the first body 10 and the first surface 200 ofthe second body 20, and always there is a second angle β between thesecond body 20 and the connecting body 30.

Although in the second embodiment of the present disclosure, the firstbody 10 and the second body 20, on the whole, do not slide in parallelin an approximate fitting, as shown in FIGS. 23A to 23C, in the firstmode and the second mode, a maximum distance between correspondingpoints of the first body 10 and the second body 20 is also less than afirst predetermined threshold. As will be appreciated, the firstpredetermined threshold in the second embodiment of the presentdisclosure will be larger than the first predetermined threshold in thefirst embodiment thereof, for example, the first predetermined thresholdin the second embodiment of the present disclosure is 1 cm, its specificlength mainly depends on the non-rotary member 60 in the connecting body30. Likewise, in a process that the electronic device switches from thefirst mode to the second mode through the arbitrary mode, a distancebetween the sixth end 22 of the second body 20 and the first surface 100is maintained as smaller than the first predetermined threshold.

In addition, in the mode switching process shown in FIGS. 23A to 23C, anexternal force needs to be applied on the electronic device.Specifically, in the first mode shown in FIG. 23A, when an externalforce F that has a component in a direction from the sixth end 22 to thefifth end 21 is applied on the second body 20, and a magnitude of thecomponent of the external force satisfies a first predeterminedcondition, the electronic device switches from the first mode to thesecond mode. Likewise, in the second mode shown in FIG. 23C, when anexternal force F that has a component in a direction from the fifth end21 to the sixth end 22 is applied on the second body 20, and a magnitudeof the component of the external force satisfies a first predeterminedcondition, the electronic device switches from the second mode to thefirst mode. As already described above with reference to FIGS. 21A to21C and 3, the first predetermined condition may be larger than thesecond predetermined condition.

FIG. 24 is a schematic diagram further illustrating the connecting bodyaccording to the second embodiment of the present disclosure. As shownin FIG. 24, the connecting body 30 according to the second embodiment ofthe present disclosure comprises two rotary member groups 40 and 50 andat least one non-rotary member 60 between the two rotary member groups,each rotary member group 40 and 50 comprises at least two rotary members401, 402, 501, 502. As described above, each of the at least two rotarymembers 401 and 402 (or 501 and 502) has a self-rotary shaft 411 and 412(or 511 and 512), and respective self-rotary shafts 411 and 412 (or 511and 512) of the at least two rotary members 401 and 402 (or 501 and 502)are parallel to each other. Likewise, for example, when an externalforce applied on one rotary member 401 is vertical to the self-rotaryshaft 411 thereof and a magnitude of a component in a directiontangential to an outer surface of the one rotary member 401 satisfies asecond predetermined condition, the one rotary member 401 can rotatearound the self-rotary shaft 411 thereof. In addition, when there is noexternal force that satisfies the second predetermined condition on eachof the rotary members of the two rotary member groups 40 and 50, therespective rotary members of the two rotary member groups 40 and 50probably maintain a mutual stability due to the damping, so as to ensurethe relative stable state between the first body 10, the second body 20,and the connecting body 30 of the electronic device 1.

Likewise, in an example of the second embodiment of the presentdisclosure, when one rotary member (e.g., rotary member 401 or 501)rotates, the other rotary members (rotary member 402 or 502) rotateaccordingly. In addition, in another example of the second embodiment ofthe present disclosure, when the one rotary member (e.g., rotary member401) rotates, the other rotary member 502 does not rotate. Differentthan that the connecting body 30 is totally composed by rotary membersin the above first embodiment, since there is the non-rotary body 60 inthe connecting body 30 of the second embodiment of the presentdisclosure, no matter the rotary members therein all rotate in linkageor there is a rotary member that does not rotate in linkage, the firstbody 10 and the second body 20, on the whole, do not maintain sliding inparallel in the whole mode switching process.

FIGS. 25A and 25B are schematic diagrams illustrating a third mode ofthe electronic device according to the first and second embodiments ofthe present disclosure. Specifically, FIG. 25A illustrates a case of thefirst embodiment where the connecting body 30 is composed by the atleast three rotary members 301-30 n, FIG. 25B illustrates a case of thesecond embodiment where the connecting body 30 comprises two rotarymember groups 40 and 50 and at least one rotary member 60 between thetwo rotary member groups. As shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the electronicdevice further has a third mode, in which a first outer surface composedby the first surface 100 of the first body 10, the first surface 300 ofthe connecting body 30, and the first surface 200 of the second body 20is flat or approximately flat. Specifically, thickness of the first body10, thickness of the second body 20, and thickness of the connectingbody 30 are strictly the same, and when the first body 10 and theconnecting body 30, and the second body 20 and the connecting body 30fully rotate round each other to reach that an angle therein between is180 degrees, the first external surface is flat. When thickness of thefirst body 10, thickness of the second body 20, and thickness of theconnecting body 30 are different, or the first body 10 and theconnecting body 30, and the second body 20 and the connecting body 30 donot fully rotate round each other, and an angle therein between is lessthan 180 degrees (e.g., 175 to 180 degrees), the first external surfaceis approximately flat.

FIGS. 26A and 26B are schematic diagrams further illustrating theelectronic device provided with a display. As shown in FIGS. 26A and26B, the electronic device according to the first and second embodimentsof the present disclosure further comprises a display 70 disposed atleast on the first surface 100 of the first body 10. Further, as shownin FIGS. 26A and 26B, area of a first non-covered part 701 of thedisplay 70 in the first mode is different than area of a secondnon-covered part 702 of the display 70 in the second mode.

Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 26A and 26B, the display 70 is adeformable display, the display 70 is disposed at least in a regionformed by the first surface 100 of the first body 10 and the firstsurface 200 of the second body 20; or the display 70 is disposed in aregion formed by the first surface 100 of the first body 10, the firstsurface 300 of the connecting body 30, and the first surface 200 of thesecond body 20. In the first mode and the second mode described withreference to FIGS. 21A to 21C and 23A to 23C, one part of the displaycovers another part of the display 70.

FIGS. 27A and 27B are schematic diagrams further illustrating theelectronic device provided with a sensing unit. As described above withreference to FIGS. 20 to 26B, the electronic device according to theembodiments of the present disclosure have multiple different operatingmodes (such as the first mode, the second mode, and the third mode), andas shown in FIGS. 26A and 26B, in different operating modes, the display70 disposed on the electronic device will be covered differently, thusthere are different exposed regions. Therefore, multiple differentoperating modes of the electronic device may correspond to differentoperating modes, and different display content may be provided to thedisplay 70 according to different operating modes.

Therefore, the electronic device may further comprise a sensing unit(not shown) disposed in the first body 10 and/or the connecting body 30and/or the second body 20, and configured to detect a mode of theelectronic device; and a processer (not shown) disposed in the firstbody 10 and/or the connecting body 30 and/or the second body 20, andconfigured to control a mode switching of the electronic deviceaccording to a mode detected by the sensing unit.

Specifically, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown inFIG. 27A, the sensing unit comprises a photosensitive unit 80, thephotosensitive unit 80 comprises a light detecting array disposedcorresponding to a light emitting array of the display 70, and isconfigured to determine an exposed region of the display according to aregion that satisfies a predetermined luminance threshold in the lightdetecting array, so as to determine a mode of the electronic device.This is because in different modes of the electronic device, the displayis differently covered by the connecting body 30 and/or the second body20, and thereby has a different exposed region. Only the part disposedunder the outer region of the light detecting array will sense entry oflight that satisfies the predetermined luminance threshold, and thelight sensed by the other covered part of the light detecting array doesnot satisfy the predetermined luminance threshold. Therefore, the partthat detects the light that satisfies the predetermined luminancethreshold of the light detecting array corresponds to an exposed regionof the display 70 in a current mode.

In another embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in FIG. 27B,the sensing unit comprises a bending detecting sub-unit 90 disposed inthe connecting body 30 and configured to determine a mode of theelectronic device according to a state of the connecting body 30. Forexample, the bending detecting sub-unit 90 may be an angle sensor thatsenses a current bending angle of the connecting body 30. By settingspecific dimensions of the first body 10, the connecting body 30, andthe second body 20 in advance, after the current bending angle of theconnecting body 30 is sensed, it is possible to thereby determine acurrent mode of the electronic device.

In addition, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processercomprises a display control sub-unit (not shown), which switches displaycontent on the display according to a mode switching of the electronicdevice, and thereby adaptively provides the user with a display thatbest suits a current mode of the electronic device.

For example, in one example of the disclosure, during a switchingprocess between the first mode and the second mode of the electronicdevice according to the first embodiment as shown in FIG. 21A-21C or thesecond embodiment as shown in FIGS. 23A-23C, as shown in FIGS. 26A and26B, in different modes, the display 70 arranged on the electronicdevice will be covered differently, and thus forming exposed regionswith different sizes. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 26A, in the firstmode, the electronic device may have a smaller exposed region 701. Onthe condition that the display 70 cannot be controlled according toregions or gradually illuminated according to regions, when the sensingunit detects that the electronic device is changing from the first modeto the second mode, for example when the sensing unit 80 as shown inFIG. 27A detects that a region that satisfies a predetermined luminancethreshold in the light detecting array is gradually increasing or whenthe bending detection sub-unit 90 as shown in FIG. 27B detects that thebending angle of the connecting body 30 is changing, the display controlsub-unit may control the display content on the display 70 to remainunchanged, that is, during the mode switching process, the displaycontrol sub-unit may control the display 70 to keep only the displayregion 701 illuminated and display only on the display region 701. Afterthe sensing unit detects that the whole mode switching process iscompleted, that is, after the electronic device is in the second mode,the electronic device has a larger exposed region 702. Then, the displaycontrol sub-unit controls the display 70 to illuminate the entireexposed region 702, and display richer interface content on the entiredisplay region 702. In one example of the disclosure, when the sensingunit detects that the whole mode switching process has been completedfor a predetermined period of time, that is, when the sensing unitdetects that the electronic device is in the second mode and the secondmode has been kept for a predetermined period of time, the displaycontrol sub-unit controls the display 70 to illuminate the entireexposed region 702, and display on the entire display region 702. Thepredetermined period of time may be default or set by user based onrequirements. For example, the predetermined period of time may be setas 1 second.

Similarly, when the sensing unit detects that the electronic device ischanging from the second mode to the first mode, the display controlsub-unit may first control the display content on the display 70 toremain unchanged, that is, during the mode switching process, thedisplay control sub-unit may control the display 70 to keep the entiredisplay region 702 illuminated and display on the entire display region702. After the sensing unit detects that the whole mode switchingprocess is completed, that is, after the electronic device is in thefirst mode, the electronic device has only a smaller exposed region 701.Then, the display control sub-unit controls the display 70 to illuminateonly the exposed region 701, and display only simple information and/orinstant messages on the display region 701. In one example of thedisclosure, when the sensing unit detects that the whole mode switchingprocess has been completed for a predetermined period of time, that is,when the sensing unit detects that the electronic device is in the firstmode and the first mode has been kept for a predetermined period oftime, the display control sub-unit controls the display 70 to illuminatethe smaller exposed region 701, and display only simple informationand/or instant messages on the display region 701.

In another example of the present disclosure, the display 70 of theelectronic device 1 may be controlled by the display control sub-unit todisplay content according to regions or to be gradually illuminatedaccording to regions. When the sensing unit detects that the electronicdevice is changing from the first mode to the second mode, for examplewhen the sensing unit 80 as shown in FIG. 27A detects that a region thatsatisfies a predetermined luminance threshold in the light detectingarray is gradually increasing or when the bending detection sub-unit 90as shown in FIG. 27B detects that the bending angle of the connectingbody 30 is changing, area increment of the exposed region of the displayon the first body 10 may be calculated according to the position of thepart of the light detecting array that satisfies the predeterminedluminance threshold or according to specific sizes of the first body 10,the connecting body 30 and the second body 20 and current bending angleof the connecting body 30. Each time the sensing unit detects that theexposed region of the display on the first body is increased, thedisplay control sub-unit may control the display 70 of the first body toilluminate the current exposed region of the display 70, and the displaycontrol sub-unit may control the display content on the display 70 to bericher as the exposed region of the display 70 becomes larger. When thesensing unit detects that the mode switching process is completed, thatis, the electronic device is in the second mode, the display controlsub-unit controls the display 70 to illuminate the entire exposed region702, and display on the entire display region 702. The predeterminedarea may be default or set by user based on requirements. For example,the predetermined area may be set as 4 cm2.

Similarly, when the sensing unit detects that the electronic device ischanging from the second mode to the first mode, for example when thesensing unit 80 as shown in FIG. 27A detects that a region thatsatisfies a predetermined luminance threshold in the light detectingarray is gradually decreasing or when the bending detection sub-unit 90as shown in FIG. 27B detects that the bending angle of the connectingbody 30 is changing, area decrement of the exposed region of the displayon the first body 10 may be calculated according to the position of thepart of the light detecting array that satisfies the predeterminedluminance threshold or according to specific sizes of the first body 10,the connecting body 30 and the second body 20 and current bending angleof the connecting body 30. Each time the sensing unit detects that theexposed region of the display on the first body is decreased, thedisplay control sub-unit may control the display 70 of the first body toilluminate the decreased exposed region of the display 70, and thedisplay control sub-unit may control the display content on the display70 to be simpler as the exposed region of the display 70 becomessmaller. When the sensing unit detects that the mode switching processis completed, that is, the electronic device is in the first mode, theelectronic device only has a smaller exposed region 701. Then, thedisplay control sub-unit controls the display 70 to illuminate only thesmaller exposed region 701, and display only simple information and/orinstant messages on the display region 701. As stated above, thepredetermined area may be default or set by user based on requirements.

FIG. 28 is a first flowchart illustrating a mode switching methodaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG.28, the mode switching method according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure comprises steps provided below.

In step S2801, a mode of the electronic device is detected. As describedabove, the electronic device has at least a first mode, in which a firstsurface of the first body is covered by the connecting body and thesecond body, and a second mode, in which a surface composed by the firstsurface of the first body and a first surface of the connecting body iscovered by the second body. The mode of the electronic device may bedetected by a sensing unit disposed in the first body and/or theconnecting body and/or the second body. Thereafter, the process proceedsto step S2802.

In step S2802, a mode switching of the electronic device is controlledaccording to a detected mode. Thereafter, the process proceeds to stepS2803.

In step S2803, display content on a display of the electronic device isswitched according to a mode switching of the electronic device.

In addition, in an example of the present disclosure, step S2803 mayfurther comprise controlling the display content on the display of thefirst body to not change when it is detected that the mode of theelectronic device is in a process of changing, until it is detected thatthe mode changing of the electronic device ends, then the displaycontent on the display of the first body is controlled to changeaccording to the changed mode of the electronic device. In anotherexample of the present disclosure, step S2803 may further comprise onceit is detected that the exposed region of the display of the first bodychanges by a predetermined area, controlling the display content on thedisplay of the first body to change according to the size change of theexposed region of the display when it is detected that the mode of theelectronic device is in a process of changing.

Accordingly, with the electronic device provided by the presentdisclosure being adopted, it is possible to optimize structure of theconventional handheld electronic device, enable the electronic device toswitch between different folded states in a manner that the user pushessmoothly with a finger, which facilitates the user's operation, and thefolded display screen will not be completely blocked, the user canobtain messages in time through the exposed display screen, theelectronic device and the mode switching method provided by the presentdisclosure can implement at least two different operating modes, so asto provide different display regions in different operating modes, andbased on the operating modes, execute display of the correspondingcontent in the different display regions.

(Fifth Implementation)

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will bedescribed in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 29 is a plan view schematically illustrating an electronic deviceaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 30 is a sideview schematically illustrating an electronic device according to anembodiment of the present disclosure. The electronic device according toan embodiment of the present disclosure may be such an electronic devicelike tablet computer, smart phone, personal digital assistant, smartwearable device. In the following, for convenience of description, thesmart phone will be described as an example of the electronic device.

As shown in FIGS. 29 and 30, the smart phone 1 comprises a first body10, a second body 20, and a connecting body 30.

The first body 10 has a first end 11 and a second end 12, and a firstsurface 100 and a second surface (not shown) that are opposite.

The connecting body 30 has a third end 31 and a fourth end 32, and afirst surface 300 and a second surface (not shown) that are opposite,wherein the third end 31 is connected to the second end 12.

The second body 20 has a fifth end 21 and a sixth end 22, and a firstsurface 200 and a second surface (not shown) that are opposite, whereinthe fifth end 21 is connected to the fourth end 32, and the firstsurface 100 of the first body 10, the first surface 300 of theconnecting body 30, and the first surface 200 of the second body 20compose a first outer surface of the smart phone 1, and the first body10 and the second body 20 can rotate round each other based on theconnecting body 30. The relative rotation of the first body 10 and thesecond body 20 will be described later in detail.

The smartphone 1 further comprises a display (not shown) disposed atleast on the first surface 100 of the first body 10. The display may beplasma display, organic electroluminescence display, liquid crystaldisplay etc., however, the present disclosure is not limited thereto,those skilled in the art can select a type of the display as actuallyneeded. Further, the display may also be implemented by a touch paneldisplay, so that the display can respond to a user's touch operation.The display will be described in detail later in conjunction withspecific embodiments.

The smart phone 1 at least has a first mode, in which the first surface100 of the first body 10 and the first surface 200 of the second body 20are in a parallel state or an approximately parallel state, and a firstregion (not shown in FIGS. 29 and 30, detailed description will beprovided later with reference to FIGS. 32 and 34) of the display can beperceived. Besides the first mode, the smart phone 1 may also have asecond mode and a third mode, wherein in the third mode, the first outersurface is flat or approximately flat. The third mode may be the mode ofthe smart phone 1 as shown in FIG. 30. The aforesaid respective modeswill be described in detail later in conjunction with specificembodiments.

The smartphone 1 may further comprise a processer (not shown). Theprocesser may be such processors like CPU, or may also be implemented byan embedded controller (EC). The processer can control such hardwarecomponents like a display according to the user's operation instruction.Control operations of the processer will be described in detail later inconjunction with specific embodiments.

Although it is illustrated in the above that the smart phone 1 includeshardware components like the processer, the display, however, thepresent disclosure is not limited thereto, the smart phone may alsocomprise such hardware components like a storage (not shown), a sensingunit etc. Hardware configuration of the smart phone 1 will be describedin detail later in conjunction with preferred embodiments.

Hereinafter, the smart phone 1 according to a first embodiment of thepresent disclosure will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.31 and 32. FIG. 31 is a side view schematically illustrating the firstmode of the electronic device according to the first embodiment of thepresent disclosure. FIG. 32 is a plan view schematically illustratingthe first mode of the electronic device according to the firstembodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in FIGS. 31 and 32, the smart phone 1 has a first mode, inwhich the first surface 100 of the first body 10 and the first surface200 of the second body 20 are in a parallel state or an approximatelyparallel state, and a first region 41 of the display 40 can beperceived.

It should be noted that, although in FIG. 31 the first mode of the smartphone 1 is shown as that the first body 10 and the second body 20 areparallel (i.e., the first surface 100 of the first body 10 and the firstsurface 200 of the second body 20 are parallel), the present disclosureis not limited thereto. In the first mode of the smart phone 1, thefirst body 10 and the second body 20 may be approximately parallel, thatis to say, the second body 20 may be tilted slightly toward the positionof the first body 10, so that the first surface 100 of the first body 10and the first surface 200 of the second body 20 form a certain angle, orthe second body 20 may be tilted slightly away from the position of thefirst body 10, so that the first surface 100 of the first body 10 andthe first surface 200 of the second body 20 also form a certain angle.Preferably, the angle is between 0 to 30 degrees, but the presentdisclosure is not limited thereto, those skilled in the art can set theaforesaid two tilting directions and angles as actually needed, as longas the first region 41 of the display 40 can be perceived in the firstmode.

Preferably, in the first mode, a second region 42 (shown with dottedlines in FIG. 32) of the display 40 cannot be perceived while the firstregion 41 of the display 40 can be perceived. The “cannot be perceived”may refer to that when the smart phone 1 in the first mode, a user ofthe electronic device cannot see or clearly see content displayed in thesecond region 42 of the display 40, or when the smart phone 1 in thefirst mode, a user of the electronic device cannot touch the secondregion 42 of the display 40.

Preferably, in the first mode, the first region 41 of the display 40 isnot covered by the second body 20, and the second region 42 of thedisplayed is covered by the second body 20. In the first mode shown inFIG. 31, the second body 20 and the first body 10 are parallel, thus thesecond region 42 of the display 40 is totally covered by the second body20, whereas the first region 41 of the display 40 is not covered by thesecond body 20. Since the second region 42 is covered by the second body20, the user at least cannot touch the second region 42. It should benoted that, although FIG. 31 shows a case where the second region 42 iscovered by the second body 20, those skilled in the art does notnecessarily deduce that the display content in the second region 42 ofthe display 40 is invisible. For example, when the second body 20 ismade from transparent material such as glass, transparent plastic, inthe first mode shown in FIG. 31, the user can still see display contentin the second region 42 of the display 40 through the display 40.Alternatively, when the second body is made from translucent materialsuch as translucent resin, the user can still see the display content inthe second region 42 through the second body 20, but in this case,legibility of the display content in the second region 42 is not high.

Preferably, the connecting body 30 has a rotary shaft (not shown in FIG.31, detailed description will be provided later with reference to FIG.35), and the first body 10 and the second body 20 have different lengthsin a direction vertical to the rotary shaft. As shown in FIG. 31, alength of the first body 10 in a direction vertical to the rotary shaftis L1, a length of the second body 20 in a direction vertical to therotary shaft is L2, and L1>L2. In this case, when the user rotates thesecond body 20 along the rotary shaft of the connecting body 30 roundthe first body, it is impossible for the second body 20 to totally coverthe first body 10, that is, the user can perceive the first region 41 ofthe display 40.

It should be noted that, although it is shown in the above that thelength L1 of the first body 10 is larger than the length L2 of thesecond body 20, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, thelength L1 of the first body 10 may be smaller than the length L2 of thesecond body 20, in this case, since the connecting body 30 also has acertain length in a direction vertical to the rotary shaft, the secondbody 20 still can rotate round the first body 10 to cover a part ofregion of the first body 10, so that the user can perceive the firstregion 41 of the display 40. In addition, in this case, the user canfinally effectuate a parallel or relatively parallel state between thefirst surface 100 of the first body 10 and the first surface 200 of thesecond body 20 in a manner of rotating the first body 10 along therotary shaft of the connecting body 30 round the second body 20, so thata part of the display disposed on the second body 20 can be perceived.

In addition, it should be noted that, to better explain the first mode,FIG. 32 shows the second display region 42 as being covered by thesecond body 20 and the connecting body 30, however, those skilled in theart can deduce from the description and teaching of the embodimentsdescribed above that, the second region 42 may be covered only by thesecond body 20 but not covered by the connecting body 30. In addition,in this embodiment, it is also shown that the display 40 is disposedonly on the first surface 100 of the first body 10, however, the presentdisclosure is not limited thereto, the display 40 may be disposed on thefirst surface 100 of the first body 10 and the third surface 300 of thethird body 30, or disposed on a first outer surface (composed by thefirst surface 100 of the first body 10, the first surface 300 of theconnecting body 30, and the first surface 200 of the second body 20) ofthe smart phone 1.

The smart phone 1 may have a second mode. The second mode of the smartphone 1 according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure willbe described below in detail with reference to FIGS. 33 and 34. FIG. 33is a side view schematically illustrating the second mode of theelectronic device according to the first embodiment of the presentdisclosure. FIG. 34 is a plan view schematically illustrating the secondmode of the electronic device according to the first embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

In the second mode shown in FIGS. 33 and 34, the first surface 100 ofthe first body 10 and the first surface 200 of the second body 20 are ina parallel state or in an approximately parallel state, and a thirdregion 43 of the display 40 can be perceived, and the third region 43 isdifferent than the first region 41.

Although the second mode of the smart phone 1 is shown in FIG. 33 asthat the first body 10 and the second body 20 are parallel (i.e., thefirst surface 100 of the first body 10 and the first surface 200 of thesecond body 20 are parallel), like the description of the first modeprovided above with reference to FIGS. 31 and 32, the first body 10 andthe second body 20 may also be approximately parallel, that is to say,the first surface 100 of the first body 10 and the first surface 200 ofthe second body 20 form a certain angle. Preferably, the angle is alsobetween 0 to 30 degrees, but the present disclosure is not limitedthereto, those skilled in the art can set a degree of the angle asactually needed, as long as the third region 43 of the display 40 can beperceived in the second mode.

As shown in FIG. 34, in the second mode, the third region 43 of thedisplay 40 is not covered by the second body 20, and a fourth region 44of the display 40 is covered by the second body 20. Similar to the firstmode described above, since the fourth region 44 is covered by thesecond body 20, the user at least cannot touch the fourth region 44.Although FIG. 34 shows a case where the fourth region 44 is covered bythe second body 20, those skilled in the art does not necessarily deducethat the display content in the fourth region 44 of the display 40 isinvisible. For example, when the second body 20 is made from transparentmaterial such as glass, transparent plastic, in this way, the user canstill see display content in the fourth region 44 of the display 40through the display 40. As shown in FIG. 34, because the region coveredby the first body 20 of the first body 10 in the second mode is smallerthan in the first mode, the third region 43 of the display 40 is largerthan the first region 41.

Although in the case described with reference to FIGS. 33 and 34, thethird region 43 of the display 40 is larger than the first region 41,the present disclosure is not limited thereto, the third region 43 maybe smaller than the first region 41. For example, as described above, inthe case where the length L1 of the first body 10 is smaller than thelength L2 of the second body 20, when the user rotates the first body 10and makes it cover the second body 20, since the first body 10 cannottotally cover the second body 20, a part of region of the displaydisposed on the second body 20 can be perceived, such part of region ofthe display may be regarded as the third region, and the third regionmay be smaller than the first region 41 in appropriate circumstances.

In addition, it should be also noted that, to better explain the secondmode, FIG. 34 shows the fourth region 44 as being covered only by thesecond body 20, however, those skilled in the art can deduce from thedescription and teaching of the embodiments described above that, thefourth region 44 may be covered by the connecting body 30 (i.e., coveredby the second body 20 and the connecting body 30). In addition, asdescribed above, the display 40 may be disposed on the first surface 100of the first body 10 and the third surface 300 of the third body 30, ordisposed on a first outer surface of the smart phone 1.

Next, the connecting body 30 of the smart phone 1 according to the firstembodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail withreference to FIG. 35. FIG. 35 is a schematic diagram furtherillustrating the connecting body according to the first embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 35, the connecting body 30 of the smart phone 1according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure may compriseat least three rotary members 301-30 n (n is an integer larger than orequal to 3), each of the at least three rotary members 301-30 n has aself-rotary shaft 311-31 n, respective self-rotary shafts 311-31 n ofthe at least three rotary members 301-30 n are parallel to each other.For example, when an external force applied on one rotary member 301 isvertical to the self-rotary shaft 311 thereof and a magnitude of acomponent in a direction tangential to an outer surface of the onerotary member 301 satisfies a second predetermined condition, the onerotary member 301 can rotate around the self-rotary shaft 311 thereof.Here, the second predetermined condition is associated withmanufacturing material, manufacturing process and other factors of theat least three rotary members 301-30 n. In addition, when there is noexternal force that satisfies the second predetermined condition on eachof the at least three rotary members 301-30 n, the at least three rotarymembers may 301-30 n probably maintain a mutual stability due to thedamping, so as to ensure a relative stable state between the first body10, the second body 20, and the connecting body 30 of the smart phone 1.

It should be noted that, in this embodiment, when one rotary member(e.g., rotary member 301) rotates, the other rotary members (rotarymembers 302-30 n) may stay still relatively, or may rotate accordingly.For example, the at least three rotary members 301-30 n may be gearmembers that engage with each other, when one gear member rotates, itwill drive all other gear members that engage to rotate in linkage withthe same line speed (with the same angular velocity in the case of thesame radius). Alternatively, when all the rotary members rotate inlinkage, rotation speeds of the respective rotary members (line speedand/or angular velocity) may probably be different due to differentengagement manners and different friction and consumption of therespective rotary members. In addition, in another example of the firstembodiment of the present disclosure, when one rotary member (e.g.,rotary member 301) rotates, at least one of the other rotary membersdoes not rotate, that is, not all the rotary members are in linkage,instead, there is at least one rotary member that is not in linkage.

In a case where all the rotary members of the connecting body 30 are inlinkage, because rotation of one rotary member causes all the otherrotary members to rotate at the same or different rotation speed, so inthe mode switching process shown in FIGS. 36A to 36C, the first body 10and the second body 20, on a whole, cannot maintain sliding in parallel,instead, since rotation of all the rotary members in the connecting body30 has fluctuation. In contrast, in a case where there is at least onerotary member that is not in linkage in the connecting body 30,probably, only rotary members in a folded region of the connecting body30 rotate, rotary members in the other regions of the connecting body 30do not rotate in linkage, thus implementing the mode switching processshown in FIGS. 36A to 36C, the firs body 10 and the body 20 on the wholemaintain sliding parallel to each other.

Mutual switching may be made between the first mode described above withreference to FIGS. 31 and 32 and the second mode described above withreference to FIGS. 33 and 34. In the following, a switching processbetween the first mode and the second mode will be described in detailwith reference to FIGS. 36A to 36C. FIGS. 36A to 36C are schematicdiagrams illustrating a switching process between a first mode and asecond mode of the electronic device according to a first embodiment ofthe present disclosure, wherein FIG. 36B exemplarily illustrates atransitional mode during a switching process between the first mode andthe second mode.

As shown in FIGS. 36A to 36C, in the first mode and the second mode, amaximum distance between corresponding points of the first body 10 andthe second body 20 of the smart phone 1 is less than a firstpredetermined threshold L. As will be appreciated, the correspondingpoints of the first body 10 and the second body 20 of the smart phone 1are a pair of intersection points of a straight line that verticallypasses through a plane where the first body 10 and the second body 20reside on the aforesaid plane. In the smart phone according to the firstembodiment of the present disclosure as shown in FIGS. 36A to 36C, thefirst body 10 and the second body 20 are capable of being in anapproximate fitting in the first mode, the second mode, and anytransitional state between the two. That is, the first threshold L maybe 5 mm or less.

In one case, in a process that the smart phone 1 switches from the firstmode to the second mode through the transitional mode, a distancebetween the sixth end 22 of the second body 20 and the first surface 100of the first body 10 is maintained as smaller than the firstpredetermined threshold L. The distance between the sixth end 22 of thesecond body 20 and the first surface 100 is a distance between any pointon the sixth end 22 and a corresponding point on the first body 10.

In another case, when switching between the first mode and the secondmode, a distance between the first surface 100 of the first body 10 anda first surface 200 of the second body 20 is also smaller than the firstpredetermined threshold L. That is to say, in this case, the first body10 and the second body 20, on the whole, slide relatively in parallel toexecute mode switching.

In addition, in the mode switching process shown in FIGS. 36A to 36C, anexternal force needs to be applied on the smart phone 1. Specifically,in the first mode shown in FIG. 36A, when an external force F that has acomponent F1 in a direction from the sixth end 22 to the fifth end 21 isapplied on the second body 20, and a magnitude of the component F1 ofthe external force satisfies a second predetermined condition, the smartphone 1 switches from the first mode to the second mode. Likewise, inthe second mode shown in FIG. 36C, when an external force F that has acomponent F2 in a direction from the fifth end 21 to the sixth end 22 isapplied on the second body 20, and a magnitude of the component F2 ofthe external force satisfies a second predetermined condition, the smartphone 1 switches from the second mode to the first mode. As will beappreciated, the external force applied on the second body 20 of thesmart phone 1 is transmitted to the connecting body 30 to overcome thedamping between respective members of the connecting body 30. Inaddition, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, theexternal force applied to the second body 20 as described above may beapplied separately on the connecting body 30 or may be appliedconcurrently on the second body 20 and the connecting body 30, so longas the component F1 or the component F2 that satisfies the secondpredetermined condition can be generated.

In addition, it should be noted that, although the component F1 and thecomponent F2 of the external force applied during the switching processboth are set as satisfying the second predetermined condition in theabove, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, the component F1and the component F2 may satisfy different predetermined conditions,that is, it is possible to set different predetermined conditions forthe component F1 and the component F2 (e.g., the component F1corresponds to the second predetermined condition, the component F2corresponds to a third predetermined condition), thus respectivelyswitching from the first mode to the second mode or from the second modeto the first mode, for example, when the user holds the smart phone 1and maintains the smart phone 1 in a vertically standing state, thecomponent F2 should be properly larger than the component F1, that is,the third predetermined condition is larger than the secondpredetermined condition.

As described above, the smart phone 1 has the display 40 at leastdisposed on the first surface 100 of the first body 10. Preferably, thedisplay 40 is a deformable display or a flexible display, and it may bedisposed at least on a region formed by the first surface 100 of thefirst body 10 and the first surface 200 of the second body 20; or thedisplay 40 is disposed on the first outer surface composed by the firstsurface 100 of the first body 10, the first surface 300 of theconnecting body 30, and the first surface 200 of the second body 20. Inthe different modes described above with reference to FIGS. 31 to 34,specific regions (e.g., the first region 41 and the third region 43) ofthe display 40 can be perceived, but the other regions (e.g., the secondregion 42 and the fourth region 44) cannot be perceived because of beingcovered by the second body 20.

Since the smart phone 1 according to the first embodiment of the presentdisclosure has multiple different modes (such as the first mode, thesecond mode, and the third mode), in different operating modes, thedisplay 40 will be covered differently, thus there are different exposedregions (e.g., the first region 41 and the third region 43). Therefore,multiple different operating modes of the smart phone 1 may correspondto different operating modes, and different display content, likeinstant messages, common applications etc., may be provided to thedisplay 40 according to different operating modes.

Preferably, the smart phone 1 may further comprise a sensing unitdisposed in the first body 10 and/or the connecting body 30 and/or thesecond body 20, and configured to detect a mode of the smart phone 1;and a processer disposed in the first body 10 and/or the connecting body30 and/or the second body 20, and configured to control a mode switchingof the smart phone 1 according to a mode detected by the sensing unit.Preferably, the processer comprises a display control sub-unit, whichswitches display content on the display 40 according to a mode switchingof the electronic device, and thereby adaptively provides the user witha display that best suits a current mode of the smart phone 1.

Preferably, the sensing unit may comprise a photosensitive unit. Thesmart phone 1 equipped with the photosensitive unit will be described indetail below with reference to FIG. 37A. FIG. 37A is a diagramillustrating the smart phone 1 equipped with the photosensitive unit 80.

The photosensitive unit 80 comprises a light detecting array disposedcorresponding to a light emitting array of the display 40, and isconfigured to determine an exposed region of the display according to aregion that satisfies a predetermined luminance threshold in the lightdetecting array, so as to determine a mode of the smart phone 1. This isbecause in different modes of the smart phone 1, the display 40 isdifferently covered by the connecting body 30 and/or the second body 20,and thereby has a different exposed region. Only the part disposed underthe outer region of the light detecting array will sense entry of lightthat satisfies the predetermined luminance threshold, and the lightsensed by the other covered part of the light detecting array does notsatisfy the predetermined luminance threshold. Therefore, the part thatdetects the light that satisfies the predetermined luminance thresholdof the light detecting array corresponds to an exposed region (e.g., thefirst region 41 and the third region 43) of the display 40 in a currentmode.

Preferably, the sensing unit may comprise a bending detecting sub-unit.The smart phone 1 equipped with the bending detecting sub-unit will bedescribed in detail below with reference to FIG. 37B. FIG. 37B is adiagram illustrating the smart phone 1 equipped with the bendingdetecting sub-unit 90.

The bending detecting sub-unit 90 is disposed in the connecting body 30and configured to determine a mode of the smart phone 1 according to astate of the connecting body 30. For example, the bending detectingsub-unit 90 may be an angle sensor that senses a current bending angleof the connecting body 30. By setting specific dimensions of the firstbody 10, the connecting body 30, and the second body 20 in advance,after the current bending angle of the connecting body 30 is sensed, itis possible to thereby determine a current mode of the smart phone 1.

It should be noted that, although the sensing unit is respectively shownas comprising the photosensitive unit 80 and comprising the bendingdetecting sub-unit 90 as described above with reference to FIGS. 37A and37B, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, the sensing unit maybe composed by both the photosensitive unit 80 and the bending detectingsub-unit 90, thus more accurately detecting a mode of the smart phone 1.Besides, the sensing unit may further comprise other detecting elements,so long as they can detect a mode of the smart phone 1.

Accordingly, the smart phone 1 according to the first embodiment of thepresent disclosure forms the first mode by using the first body 10 andthe second body 20 to rotate relatively, not only volume of the smartphone 1 can be reduced to facilitate the user carrying and holding, butalso the operating mode of the smart phone 1 can be switched accordingto a different mode, thus displaying those like instant messages, commonapplications etc. in the non-covered regions (e.g., the first region 41and the third region 43), so that the user can conveniently use aspecific function of the electronic device 1 after reducing the volumeof the electronic device 1.

Hereinafter, a smart phone 1 according to a second embodiment of thepresent disclosure will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.38 to 39. FIG. 38 is a schematic diagram illustrating the connectingbody of the smart phone 1 according to the second embodiment of thepresent disclosure. FIGS. 39A to 39C are schematic diagrams illustratinga switching process between the first mode and the second mode of theelectronic device according to a second embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

The smart phone 1 according to the second embodiment of the presentdisclosure is similar to the smart phone 1 according to the above firstembodiment of the present disclosure, for clearness and brevity of thespecification, description regarding the same or similar members,functions and so on of the two embodiments will be omitted, and what isfocused on is the differences between the two embodiments.

The smart phone 1 according to the second embodiment of the presentdisclosure and smart phone 1 according to the above first embodiment ofthe present disclosure mainly differ in the connecting body 30. As shownin FIG. 38, the connecting body 30 of the smart phone 1 according to thesecond embodiment of the present disclosure comprises two rotary membergroups 50 and 70 and at least one non-rotary member 60 between the tworotary member groups, each rotary member group 50 and 70 comprises atleast two rotary members 501, 502, 701, 702. As described above, each ofthe at least two rotary members 501 and 502 (or 701 and 702) has aself-rotary shaft 411 and 412 (or 511 and 512), and respectiveself-rotary shafts 411 and 412 (or 511 and 512) of the at least tworotary members 501 and 502 (or 701 and 702) are parallel to each other.Likewise, for example, when an external force applied on one rotarymember 501 is vertical to the self-rotary shaft 411 thereof and amagnitude of a component in a direction tangential to an outer surfaceof the one rotary member 501 satisfies a second predetermined condition,the one rotary member 501 can rotate around the self-rotary shaft 411thereof. In addition, when there is no external force that satisfies thesecond predetermined condition on each of the rotary members of the tworotary member groups 50 and 70, the respective rotary members of the tworotary member groups 50 and 70 probably maintain a mutual stability dueto the damping, so as to ensure the relative stable state between thefirst body 10, the second body 20, and the connecting body 30 of theelectronic device 1.

Likewise, in an example of the second embodiment of the presentdisclosure, when one rotary member (e.g., rotary member 501 or 701)rotates, the other rotary members (rotary member 502 or 702) rotateaccordingly. In addition, in another example of the second embodiment ofthe present disclosure, when the one rotary member (e.g., rotary member501) rotates, the other rotary member 702 does not rotate. Differentthan that the connecting body 30 is totally composed by rotary membersin the above first embodiment, since there is the non-rotary body 60 inthe connecting body 30 of the second embodiment of the presentdisclosure, no matter the rotary members therein all rotate in linkageor there is a rotary member that does not rotate in linkage, the firstbody 10 and the second body 20, on the whole, do not maintain sliding inparallel in the whole mode switching process.

The switching process between the first mode and the second mode of thesmart phone 1 according to the second embodiment of the presentdisclosure will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 39Ato 39C. FIGS. 39A to 39C are schematic diagrams illustrating a switchingprocess between the first mode and the second mode of the electronicdevice according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure.

Similar to the description of the first embodiment, FIG. 39A illustratesthe first mode of the smart phone 1 according to the second embodimentof the present disclosure, FIG. 39C illustrates the second mode of thesmart phone 1 according to the second embodiment of the presentdisclosure, and FIG. 39B illustrates a transitional mode during aswitching process between the first mode and the second mode.

As shown in FIG. 39A to 39C, in the process of switching between thefirst mode and the second mode shown of the smart phone according to thesecond embodiment of the present disclosure, the first body 10 and thesecond body 20, on the whole, do not slide in parallel in an approximatefitting, instead, only the sixth end 22 of the second body 20 slides inan approximate fitting with the first body 10. That is to say, alwaysthere is a first angle α between the first surface 100 of the first body10 and the first surface 200 of the second body 20, and always there isa second angle β between the second body 20 and the connecting body 30.

Although in the second embodiment of the present disclosure, the firstbody 10 and the second body 20, on the whole, do not slide in parallelin an approximate fitting, as shown in FIGS. 39A to 39C, in the firstmode and the second mode, a maximum distance between correspondingpoints of the first body 10 and the second body 20 is also less than afirst predetermined threshold L.

As will be appreciated, the first predetermined threshold L in thesecond embodiment of the present disclosure will be larger than thefirst predetermined threshold L in the first embodiment thereof, forexample, the first predetermined threshold in the second embodiment ofthe present disclosure is 1 cm, its specific length mainly depends onthe non-rotary member 60 in the connecting body 30. Likewise, in aprocess that the electronic device switches from the first mode to thesecond mode through the transitional mode, a distance between the sixthend 22 of the second body 20 and the first surface 100 is maintained assmaller than the first predetermined threshold L.

In addition, in the mode switching process shown in FIGS. 39A to 39C, anexternal force needs to be applied on the electronic device.Specifically, in the first mode shown in FIG. 39A, when an externalforce F that has a component F3 in a direction from the sixth end 22 tothe fifth end 21 is applied on the second body 20, and a magnitude ofthe component F3 of the external force satisfies a second predeterminedcondition, the electronic device switches from the first mode to thesecond mode. Likewise, in the second mode shown in FIG. 39C, when anexternal force F that has a component F4 in a direction from the fifthend 21 to the sixth end 22 is applied on the second body 20, and amagnitude of the component F4 of the external force satisfies a secondpredetermined condition, the electronic device switches from the secondmode to the first mode.

Like the description provided above in the first embodiment, in thisembodiment, the component F3 and the component F4 may satisfy differentpredetermined conditions, that is, it is possible to set differentpredetermined conditions for the component F3 and the component F4(e.g., the component F3 corresponds to the second predeterminedcondition, the component F4 corresponds to a third predeterminedcondition), thus respectively switching from the first mode to thesecond mode or from the second mode to the first mode, for example, whenthe user holds the smart phone 1 and maintains the smart phone 1 in avertically standing state, the component F4 should be properly largerthan the component F3, that is, the third predetermined condition islarger than the second predetermined condition.

In addition, the second predetermined condition in this embodiment maybe equal to or not equal to the second predetermined condition in theabove first embodiment. Those skilled in the art can set according tomanufacturing material, manufacturing process and other factors of theconnecting body 30.

Like the description provided above in the first embodiment, the smartphone 1 according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure maycomprise such hardware components like a display, a processer, a sensingunit, and the processer can control a mode switching of the smart phone1 according to a mode detected by the sensing unit, and control todisplay different contents on the display, and thereby adaptivelyprovide the user with a display that best suits a current mode of theelectronic device.

Accordingly, the smart phone 1 according to the second embodiment of thepresent disclosure forms the first mode by using the first body 10 andthe second body 20 to rotate relatively, not only volume of the smartphone 1 can be reduced to facilitate the user carrying and holding, butalso the operating mode of the smart phone 1 can be switched accordingto a different mode, thus displaying those like instant messages, commonapplications etc. in the non-covered regions (e.g., the first region 41and the third region 43), so that the user can conveniently use aspecific function of the electronic device 1 after reducing the volumeof the electronic device 1.

Hereinafter, a mode switching method according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure will be described in detail with reference to FIG.40. FIG. 40 is a flowchart illustrating a mode switching method 4000applied to an electronic device according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure. Here, the mode switching method 4000 will beexplained in conjunction with the smart phone 1 in the above first andsecond embodiments, thus description of respective members of the smartphone 1 is omitted.

As shown in FIG. 40, in step S4001, a mode of the smart phone 1 isdetected. As described above, the smart phone 1 has at least a firstmode, in which the first surface 100 of the first body 10 and the firstsurface 200 of the second body 20 are in a parallel state or anapproximately parallel state, and a first region 41 of the display 40can be perceived. Besides the first mode, the smart phone 1 may alsohave a second mode and a third mode, wherein in the third mode, thefirst outer surface is flat or approximately flat. The third mode may bethe mode of the smart phone 1 as shown in FIG. 2. The mode of the smartphone 1 may be detected by a sensing unit disposed in the first bodyand/or the connecting body and/or the second body. Thereafter, theprocess proceeds to step S4002.

In step S4002, a mode switching of the smart phone 1 is controlledaccording to a detected mode. Thereafter, the process proceeds to stepS4003.

In step S4003, display content on a display 40 of the smart phone 1 isswitched according to a mode switching of the smart phone 1.

(Sixth Implementation)

Firstly, the electronic device according to the embodiment of thepresent disclosure is described with reference to FIG. 41. Theelectronic device 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosuremay be such an electronic device like tablet computer, smart phone,personal digital assistant, smart wearable device. In the following, forconvenience of description, the smart phone will be described as anexample of the electronic device.

As shown in FIG. 41, the electronic device 1 according to an embodimentof the present disclosure comprises a first body 10, a second body 20,and a connecting body 30. In other words, the body other than the firstbody 10 and the second body 20 in the electronic device 1 is theconnecting body 30. The first body 10 has a first end 11 and a secondend 12; the connecting body 30 has a third end 31 and a fourth end 32,the third end 31 is connected to the second end 12; the second body 20has a fifth end 21 and a sixth end 22, the fifth end 21 is connected tothe fourth end 32, the second body 20 is at least capable of rotatinground the first body 10 based on the connecting body 30.

Wherein, based on the connecting body 30, the electronic device 1 has atleast three modes, wherein in a first mode the first body 10 and thesecond body 20 have a first relative positional relationship, in asecond mode the first body 10 and the second body 20 have a secondrelative positional relationship, and in a third mode the first body 10and the second body 20 have a third relative positional relationship,the first relative positional relationship, the second relativepositional relationship, and the third positional relationship aredifferent from each other.

The electronic device 1 can switch from the second mode to the firstmode with a first manner, and switch from the third mode to the firstmode with a second manner, wherein the first manner and the secondmanner are different.

Configuration of the connecting body 30 will be described below indetail, the connecting body 30 may be composed by a plurality of rotarymembers and a non-rotary member there between, wherein rotary membersthat implement a connection between the connecting body 30 and the firstbody 10 and a connection between the connecting body 30 and the secondbody 20 will be uniformly considered to a compose member of theconnecting body 30. In other words, the body other than the first body10 and the second body 20 in the electronic device 1 is all consideredas the connecting body 30. In addition, it should be noted that the term“end” used herein refers to a part in a certain range of respective endsurfaces of the first body 10, the second body 20, and the connectingbody 30.

Configuration of the connecting body 30 of the electronic device 1 and amode switching process of the electronic device 1 in a case where thesecond body 20 at least rotates round the first body 10 based on theconnecting body 30 will be further described below in detail withreference to the accompanying drawings.

FIGS. 42A to 42C are schematic diagrams illustrating a switching processbetween a first mode and a second mode of the electronic deviceaccording to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. Specifically,FIG. 42A illustrates the first mode of the electronic device accordingto the first embodiment of the present disclosure, FIG. 42C illustratesthe second mode of the electronic device according to the firstembodiment of the present disclosure, and FIG. 42B illustrates anarbitrary mode during a switching process between the first mode and thesecond mode according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 42A, in the first mode, a first surface 100 of thefirst body 10 is covered by the connecting body 30 and the second body20. As shown in FIG. 42C, in the second mode, a surface composed by thefirst surface 100 of the first body 10 and a first surface 300 of theconnecting body 30 is covered by the second body 20. As will beappreciated that, coverage in the first mode and the second modecomprises a total coverage and a partial coverage. Specifically, whenthe second body 20 is short enough, in the second mode shown in FIG.42C, a surface composed by the first surface 100 of the first body 10and a first surface 300 of the connecting body 30 being covered by thesecond body 20 may be that the second body 20 covers only the firstsurface 300 of the connecting body 30.

As shown in FIG. 42B, in an arbitrary mode in a switching processbetween the first mode and the second mode, because there is dampingbetween respective members that compose the connecting body 30, so thearbitrary mode is a mode that can maintain stable without an externalforce. Based on the same reasons, in this case, the first mode and thesecond mode also are modes that can maintain stable without an externalforce. The present disclosure is not limited thereto, the first mode,the second mode, and the arbitrary mode during a switching processbetween the first mode and the second mode may probably be modes thatrequire an external force to maintain stable. Configuration of theconnecting body 30 will be described below in detail with reference tothe accompanying drawings.

In addition, as shown in FIGS. 42A to 42C, in the first mode and thesecond mode, a maximum distance between corresponding points of thefirst body 10 and the second body 20 is less than a first predeterminedthreshold L. As will be appreciated, the corresponding points of thefirst body 10 and the second body 20 are a pair of intersection pointsof a straight line that vertically passes through a plane where thefirst body 10 and the second body 20 reside on the aforesaid plane. Inthe electronic device according to the first embodiment of the presentdisclosure as shown in FIGS. 42A to 42C, the first body 10 and thesecond body 20 are capable of being in an approximate fitting in thefirst mode, the second mode, and an arbitrary state between the two.That is, the first threshold L may be 5 mm or less.

In one case, in a process that the electronic device switches from thefirst mode to the second mode through the arbitrary mode, a distancebetween the sixth end 22 of the second body 20 and the first surface 100of the first body 10 is maintained as smaller than the firstpredetermined threshold. The distance between the sixth end 22 of thesecond body 20 and the first surface 100 is a distance between any pointon the sixth end 22 and a corresponding point on the first body 10.

In another case, when switching between the first mode and the secondmode, a distance between the first surface 100 of the first body 10 anda first surface 200 of the second body 20 is also smaller than the firstpredetermined threshold. That is to say, in this case, the first body 10and the second body 20, on the whole, slide relatively in parallel toexecute mode switching. In the following, configuration of theconnecting body 30 will be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawing to illustrate correspondence between a different mode switchingprocess and configuration of the connecting body 30.

In addition, in the mode switching process shown in FIGS. 42A to 42C, anexternal force needs to be applied on the electronic device.Specifically, in the first mode shown in FIG. 42A, when an externalforce F that has a component in a direction from the sixth end 22 to thefifth end 21 is applied on the second body 20, and a magnitude of thecomponent of the external force satisfies a first predeterminedcondition, the electronic device switches from the first mode to thesecond mode. Likewise, in the second mode shown in FIG. 42C, when anexternal force F that has a component in a direction from the fifth end21 to the sixth end 22 is applied on the second body 20, and a magnitudeof the component of the external force satisfies a first predeterminedcondition, the electronic device switches from the second mode to thefirst mode. As will be appreciated, the external force applied on thesecond body 20 of the electronic device is transmitted to the connectingbody 30 to overcome the damping between respective members of theconnecting body 30. Configuration of the connecting body 30 will bedescribed below with reference to the accompanying drawing, toillustrate correspondence between the force that causes a mode switchingto the electronic device and the configuration of the connecting body30.

FIG. 43 is a schematic diagram further illustrating the connecting bodyaccording to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown inFIG. 43, the connecting body 30 according to the first embodiment of thepresent disclosure may comprise at least three rotary members 301-30 n(n is an integer larger than or equal to 3), each of the at least threerotary members 301-30 n has a self rotary shaft 311-31 n, respectiveself rotary shafts 311-31 n of the at least three rotary members 301-30n are parallel to each other. For example, when an external forceapplied on one rotary member 301 is vertical to the self rotary shaft311 thereof and a magnitude of a component in a direction tangential toan outer surface of the one rotary member 301 satisfies a secondpredetermined condition, the one rotary member 301 can rotate around theself-rotary shaft 311 thereof. Here, the second predetermined conditionis associated with manufacturing material, manufacturing process andother factors of the at least three rotary members 301-30 n. Inaddition, when there is no external force that satisfies the secondpredetermined condition on each of the at least three rotary members301-30 n, the at least three rotary members may 301-30 n probablymaintain a mutual stability due to the damping, so as to ensure arelative stable state between the first body 10, the second body 20, andthe connecting body 30 of the electronic device 1.

As shown above with reference to FIGS. 42A to 42C, the external forceapplied on the second body 20 is for making at least one rotary memberin the connecting body 30 satisfy the aforesaid second predeterminedcondition and thereby rotate around the self-rotary shaft thereof. Sincein a process of transmitting the external force applied on the secondbody 20 to at least one rotary member in the connecting body 30, theremay be a direction difference (that is, the direction from the sixth end22 to the fifth end 21 may probably be different than the directionvertical to the self rotary shaft thereof and tangential to an outersurface of the one rotary member) or other loss, the first predeterminedcondition may be larger than the second predetermined condition.

Furthermore, in the first embodiment of the present disclosure, theconnecting body 30 according to the first embodiment of the presentdisclosure may be composed only by the at least three rotary members301-30 n. In addition, in an example of the first embodiment of thepresent disclosure, when one rotary member (e.g., rotary member 301)rotates, the other rotary members (rotary members 302-30 n) rotateaccordingly. For example, the at least three rotary members 301-30 n aregear members that engage with each other, when one gear member rotates,it will drive all other gear members that engage to rotate in linkagewith the same line speed (with the same angular velocity in the case ofthe same radius). Alternatively, when all the rotary members rotate inlinkage, rotation speeds of the respective rotary members (line speedand/or angular velocity) may probably be different due to differentengagement manners and different friction and consumption of therespective rotary members. In addition, in another example of the firstembodiment of the present disclosure, when one rotary member (e.g.,rotary member 301) rotates, at least one of the other rotary membersdoes not rotate, that is, not all the rotary members are in linkage,instead, there is at least one rotary member that is not in linkage.

In a case where all the rotary members of the connecting body 30 are inlinkage, because rotation of one rotary member causes all the otherrotary members to rotate at the same or different rotation speed, so inthe mode switching process shown in FIGS. 42A to 42C, the first body 10and the second body 20, on a whole, cannot maintain sliding in parallel,instead, since rotation of all the rotary members in the connecting body30 has fluctuation. In contrast, in a case where there is at least onerotary member that is not in linkage in the connecting body 30,probably, only rotary members in a folded region of the connecting body30 rotate, rotary members in the other regions of the connecting body 30do not rotate in linkage, thus implementing that the first body 10 andthe second body 20 maintains sliding in parallel on a whole in the modeswitching process shown in FIGS. 42A to 42C.

FIGS. 44A to 44C are schematic diagrams illustrating a switching processbetween the first mode and the second mode of the electronic deviceaccording to a second embodiment of the present disclosure.Specifically, FIG. 44A illustrates the first mode of the electronicdevice according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure,FIG. 44C illustrates the second mode of the electronic device accordingto the second embodiment of the present disclosure, and FIG. 44Billustrates an arbitrary mode during a switching process between thefirst mode and the second mode according to the second embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

Similar to the electronic device according to the first embodiment ofthe present disclosure shown in FIGS. 42A to 42C, as shown in FIG. 44A,in the first mode, a first surface 100 of the first body 10 is coveredby the connecting body 30 and the second body 20. As shown in FIG. 44C,in the second mode, a surface composed by the first surface 100 of thefirst body 10 and a first surface 300 of the connecting body 30 iscovered by the second body 20.

Likewise, similar to the electronic device according to the firstembodiment of the present disclosure shown in FIGS. 42A to 42C, thearbitrary mode in a switching process between the first mode and thesecond mode may be is a mode that can maintain stable without anexternal force, or a mode that requires an external force to maintainstable.

It should be noted that, the electronic device according to the secondembodiment of the present disclosure as shown in FIGS. 44A to 44Cdiffers from the electronic device according to the first embodiment ofthe present disclosure as shown in FIGS. 42A to 42C in: sinceconfiguration of the connecting body 30 is different than that of theconnecting body of the electronic device according to the firstembodiment described with reference to FIG. 443, so in the process ofswitching from the first mode shown in FIG. 44A to the second mode shownin FIG. 44C, the first body 10 and the second body 20, on the whole, donot slide in parallel in an approximate fitting, instead, only the sixthend 22 of the second body 20 slides in an approximate fitting with thefirst body 10. That is to say, always there is a first angle α betweenthe first surface 100 of the first body 10 and the first surface 200 ofthe second body 20, and always there is a second angle β between thesecond body 20 and the connecting body 30.

Although in the second embodiment of the present disclosure, the firstbody 10 and the second body 20, on the whole, do not slide in parallelin an approximate fitting, as shown in FIGS. 44A to 44C, in the firstmode and the second mode, a maximum distance between correspondingpoints of the first body 10 and the second body 20 is also less than afirst predetermined threshold. As will be appreciated, the firstpredetermined threshold in the second embodiment of the presentdisclosure will be larger than the first predetermined threshold in thefirst embodiment thereof, for example, the first predetermined thresholdin the second embodiment of the present disclosure is 1 cm, its specificlength mainly depends on the non-rotary member 60 in the connecting body30. Likewise, in a process that the electronic device switches from thefirst mode to the second mode through the arbitrary mode, a distancebetween the sixth end 22 of the second body 20 and the first surface 100is maintained as smaller than the first predetermined threshold.

In addition, in the mode switching process shown in FIGS. 44A to 44C, anexternal force needs to be applied on the electronic device.Specifically, in the first mode shown in FIG. 44A, when an externalforce F that has a component in a direction from the sixth end 22 to thefifth end 21 is applied on the second body 20, and a magnitude of thecomponent of the external force satisfies a first predeterminedcondition, the electronic device switches from the first mode to thesecond mode. Likewise, in the second mode shown in FIG. 44C, when anexternal force F that has a component in a direction from the fifth end21 to the sixth end 22 is applied on the second body 20, and a magnitudeof the component of the external force satisfies a first predeterminedcondition, the electronic device switches from the second mode to thefirst mode. As already described above with reference to FIGS. 42A to42C and 43, the first predetermined condition may be larger than thesecond predetermined condition.

FIG. 45 is a schematic diagram further illustrating the connecting bodyaccording to the second embodiment of the present disclosure. As shownin FIG. 45, the connecting body 30 according to the second embodiment ofthe present disclosure comprises two rotary member groups 40 and 50 andat least one non-rotary member 60 between the two rotary member groups,each rotary member group 40 and 50 comprises at least two rotary members401, 402, 501, 502. As described above, each of the at least two rotarymembers 401 and 402 (or 501 and 502) has a self rotary shaft 411 and 412(or 511 and 512), and respective self rotary shafts 411 and 412 (or 511and 512) of the at least two rotary members 401 and 402 (or 501 and 502)are parallel to each other. Likewise, for example, when an externalforce applied on one rotary member 401 is vertical to the self rotaryshaft 411 thereof and a magnitude of a component in a directiontangential to an outer surface of the one rotary member 401 satisfies asecond predetermined condition, the one rotary member 401 can rotatearound the self-rotary shaft 411 thereof. In addition, when there is noexternal force that satisfies the second predetermined condition on eachof the rotary members of the two rotary member groups 40 and 50, therespective rotary members of the two rotary member groups 40 and 50probably maintain a mutual stability due to the damping, so as to ensurethe relative stable state between the first body 10, the second body 20,and the connecting body 30 of the electronic device 1.

Likewise, in an example of the second embodiment of the presentdisclosure, when one rotary member (e.g., rotary member 401 or 501)rotates, the other rotary members (rotary member 402 or 502) rotateaccordingly. In addition, in another example of the second embodiment ofthe present disclosure, when the one rotary member (e.g., rotary member401) rotates, the other rotary member 502 does not rotate. Differentthan that the connecting body 30 is totally composed by rotary membersin the above first embodiment, since there is the non-rotary body 60 inthe connecting body 30 of the second embodiment of the presentdisclosure, no matter the rotary members therein all rotate in linkageor there is a rotary member that does not rotate in linkage, the firstbody 10 and the second body 20, on the whole, do not maintain sliding inparallel in the whole mode switching process.

FIGS. 46A and 46B are schematic diagrams illustrating a third mode ofthe electronic device according to the first and second embodiments ofthe present disclosure. Specifically, FIG. 46A illustrates a case of thefirst embodiment where the connecting body 30 is composed by the atleast three rotary members 301-30 n, FIG. 46B illustrates a case of thesecond embodiment where the connecting body 30 comprises two rotarymember groups 40 and 50 and at least one rotary member 60 between thetwo rotary member groups. As shown in FIGS. 46A and 46B, the electronicdevice further has a third mode, in which a first outer surface composedby the first surface 100 of the first body 10, the first surface 300 ofthe connecting body 30, and the first surface 200 of the second body 20is flat or approximately flat. Specifically, thickness of the first body10, thickness of the second body 20, and thickness of the connectingbody 30 are strictly the same, and when the first body 10 and theconnecting body 30, and the second body 20 and the connecting body 30fully rotate round each other to reach that an angle there between is180 degrees, the first external surface is flat. When thickness of thefirst body 10, thickness of the second body 20, and thickness of theconnecting body 30 are different, or the first body 10 and theconnecting body 30, and the second body 20 and the connecting body 30 donot fully rotate round each other, and an angle there between is lessthan 180 degrees (e.g., 175 to 180 degrees), the first external surfaceis approximately flat.

As described above, FIGS. 42A to 42C are schematic diagrams illustratinga switching process between a first mode and a second mode of theelectronic device according to a first embodiment of the presentdisclosure, and FIGS. 44A to 44C are schematic diagrams illustrating aswitching process between the first mode and the second mode of theelectronic device according to a second embodiment of the presentdisclosure. It can be seen that, although in the first embodiment andthe second embodiment, configuration of the connecting body 30 isdifferent, the switching manner between the first mode and the secondmode are the same. In addition, FIGS. 47A and 47B are schematic diagramsillustrating a switching process between the first mode and the thirdmode according to the first and second embodiments of the presentdisclosure. In FIGS. 47A and 47B, specific configuration of theconnecting body 30 is not shown in particular, in other words, in FIGS.47A and 47B, the connecting body 30 may adopt either the configurationin the first embodiment or the configuration in the second embodiment.Specifically, FIG. 47A illustrates the third mode of the electronicdevice of the present disclosure, FIG. 47C illustrates the first mode ofthe electronic device of the present disclosure, and FIG. 47Billustrates an arbitrary mode during the process of switching betweenthe third mode and the first mode. From a comparison among FIGS. 42A to42C, 44A to 44C, and 47A to 47C, it can be clearly seen that, thedifference between the first manner and the second manner comprises:movement modes of the second body in the first manner and the secondmanner are different.

Hereinafter, different movement modes of the second body 20 in the firstmanner and the second manner will be explained from differentperspectives.

First, it is possible to consider from the perspective of different waysof force acting.

The electronic device 1 may be made to switch between the second modeand the first mode with a first manner. In the second mode, with thefirst manner, an external force that has a component in the directionfrom the fifth end 21 to the sixth end 22 is applied on the second body20, and a magnitude of the external force satisfies the secondpredetermined condition, that is, the external force is enough to makethe second body 20 slide relative to the first body 10 through theconnecting body 30, so that the electronic device switches from thesecond mode to the first mode. That is to say, in this case, with thefirst manner, the second body is acted upon by a push parallel to thefirst surface of the electronic device 1 and pointing from the fifth end21 to the sixth end 22, in other words, the second body 20 is acted uponby a push for sliding in a direction of being close to the first body10, so that the electronic device 1 switches from the second mode to thefirst mode. Of course, on the other hand, in the first mode, with thefirst manner, an external force that has a component in the directionfrom the sixth end 22 to the fifth end 21 is applied on the second body20, and a magnitude of the external force satisfies the secondpredetermined condition, that is, the external force is enough to makethe connecting body 30 move, so that the electronic device switches fromthe first mode to the second mode. That is to say, in this case, withthe first manner, the second body is acted upon by a push parallel tothe first surface of the electronic device 1 and pointing from the sixthend 22 to the fifth end 21, in other words, the second body 20 is actedupon by a push for sliding in a direction of being away from the firstbody 10, so that the electronic device 1 switches from the first mode tothe second mode.

The electronic device 1 may be made to switch between the third mode andthe first mode with the second manner. In the third mode, with thesecond manner, an external force that has a component in the rotarydirection from the sixth end 22 to be close to the first surface of thefirst body is applied on the second body 20, and a magnitude of theexternal force satisfies a third predetermined condition, that is, theexternal force is enough to make the second body 20 rotate round thefirst body 10 through the connecting body 30, so that the electronicdevice switches from the third mode to the first mode. That is to say,in this case, with the second manner, the second body is acted upon by apush having a certain angle (for example, the angle is 90 degrees) withthe first surface of the second body 20 and pointing from a rotarydirection from the sixth end 22 to be close to the first surface of thefirst body 10, in other words, the second body 20 is acted upon by apush that rotates the second body 10 toward a direction of being closeto the first surface of the first body 10, so that the electronic device1 switches from the third mode to the first mode. Of course, on theother hand, in the third mode, with the second manner, an external forcethat has a component in the rotary direction from the sixth end 22 to beaway from the first surface of the first body is applied on the secondbody 20, and a magnitude of the external force satisfies the thirdpredetermined condition, that is, the external force is enough to makethe second body 20 rotate round the first body 10 through the connectingbody 30, so that the electronic device switches from the first mode tothe third mode. That is to say, in this case, with the second manner,the second body 20 is acted upon by a push having a certain angle (forexample, the angle is 90 degrees) with the first surface of the secondbody 20 and pointing from a rotary direction from the sixth end 22 to beaway from the first surface of the first body 10, in other words, thesecond body 20 is acted upon by a push that rotates the second body 10toward a direction of being away from the first surface of the firstbody 10, so that the electronic device 1 switches from the first mode tothe third mode.

Second, it is possible to consider from the perspective of differentmovement directions.

The electronic device 1 may be made to switch between the second modeand the first mode with the first manner. In the second mode, with thefirst manner, the second body 20 and the first body 10 move relativelyin parallel (in substance, totally parallel or approximately parallel),wherein an angle between the first body 10 and the second body 20maintains constant and less than the second predetermined threshold, sothat the electronic device 1 switches from the second mode to the firstmode. For example, in the first embodiment, the second body 20 and thefirst body 10 move relatively in total parallel, so that the anglebetween the first body 10 and the second body 20 maintains constant andis zero. However, in the second embodiment, in an allowable range, thesecond body 20 and the first body 10 move relatively in approximateparallel, in this case, the angle between the first body 10 and thesecond body 20 maintains constant and is a, of course, a is a valuesmaller than the second predetermined threshold. On the other hand, inthe first mode, with the first manner, the second body 20 and the firstbody 10 move relatively toward opposite directions, so that theelectronic device 1 switches from the first mode to the second mode.

The electronic device 1 may be made to switch between the third mode andthe first mode with the second manner. In the third mode, with thesecond manner, the second body 20 and the first body 10 rotaterelatively, wherein the angle between the first body 10 and the secondbody 20 reduces continuously, so that the electronic device switchesfrom the third mode to the first mode. On the other hand, in the thirdmode, with the second manner, the second body 20 and the first body 10rotate relatively in directions opposite to each other, wherein theangle between the first body 10 and the second body 20 increasescontinuously, so that the electronic device switches from the first modeto the third mode.

Thereafter, it is also possible to consider from the perspective ofdifferent distances between the sixth end 22 and the first surface 100of the first body 10 during a movement.

The electronic device 1 may be made to switch between the second modeand the first mode with the first manner. In the second mode, with thefirst manner, the second body 20 moves while maintaining the distancebetween the sixth end 22 and the first surface 100 of the first body 10as smaller than the first predetermined threshold, so that theelectronic device 1 switches from the second mode to the first mode. Ofcourse, on the other hand, in the first mode, with the first manner, thesecond body 20 moves while maintaining the distance between the sixthend 22 and the first surface 100 of the first body 10 as smaller thanthe first predetermined threshold, so that the electronic device 1switches from the first mode to the second mode. For example, theswitching between the second mode and the first mode may be made withthe first manner in a case where the body 20 and the first body 10 arein a complete fitting, in this case, the distance between the sixth end22 and the first surface of the first body 10 is zero. Another example,it is also possible to make only the sixth end 22 of the second body 20contact the first surface 100 of the first body 10 but the rest of thesecond body 20 does not contact, in this case, the distance between thesixth end 22 and the first surface of the first body 10 is a small valuein an allowable range, that is, smaller than the first predeterminedthreshold.

The electronic device 1 may be made to switch between the third mode andthe first mode with the second manner. In the third mode, with thesecond manner, the second body 20 moves while the distance between thesixth end 22 and the first surface of the first body 10 is made toincrease from the second predetermined threshold to a maximum and thenreduce to below the first predetermined threshold, so that theelectronic device 1 switches from the third mode to the first mode.Specifically, in the third mode, if, as described above, the firstsurface 100 of the first body 10, the second surface 200 of the secondbody 10, and the third surface 300 of the third body 30 are in one planestrictly, then when switching from the third mode to the first mode withthe second manner, first, the distance between the sixth end 22 and thefirst surface of the first body 10 is zero, that is, the secondpredetermined threshold is zero. Then, along that the second bodyrotates toward a direction of being close to the first body 10, thedistance between the two increases gradually to the maximum, forexample, the maximum is reached when the second body 20 and the firstbody 10 are vertical, thereafter, the distance between the two decreasesgradually to the first predetermined threshold, that is, the minimum isreached when the second body 20 and the first body 10 are totally oressentially fitting. In the third mode, if, as described above, thefirst surface 100 of the first body 10, the second surface 200 of thesecond body 10, and the third surface 300 of the third body 10 are inone plane strictly, then when switching from the third mode to the firstmode with the second manner, initially, the distance between the sixthend 22 and the first surface 100 of the first body 10 is a non-zerosmall value. On the other hand, in the first mode, with the secondmanner, the second body 20 moves while the distance between the sixthend 22 and the first surface 100 of the first body 10 is made toincrease from below the first predetermined threshold to a maximum andthen reduce to the second predetermined threshold, so that theelectronic device 1 switches from the first mode to the third mode.

In the above, for convenience of understanding, differences between thefirst manner and the second manner for changing a mode are explainedfrom three different angles. However, the present disclosure is notlimited thereto. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, anyother possible angles may also be used similarly to explain thedifferences between the first manner and the second manner.

FIGS. 48A and 48B are schematic diagrams further illustrating theelectronic device provided with a display. As shown in FIGS. 48A and48B, the electronic device according to the first and second embodimentsof the present disclosure further comprises a display 70 disposed atleast on the first surface 100 of the first body 10. Further, as shownin FIGS. 48A and 48B, area of a first non-covered part 701 of thedisplay 70 in the first mode is different than area of a secondnon-covered part 702 of the display 70 in the second mode.

Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 48A and 48B, the display 70 is adeformable display, the display 70 is disposed at least in a regionformed by the first surface 100 of the first body 10 and the firstsurface 200 of the second body 20; or the display 70 is disposed in aregion formed by the first surface 100 of the first body 10, the firstsurface 300 of the connecting body 30, and the first surface 200 of thesecond body 20. In the first mode and the second mode described withreference to FIGS. 42A to 42C and 44A to 44C, one part of the display 70covers another part of the display 70.

FIGS. 49A and 49B are schematic diagrams further illustrating theelectronic device provided with a sensing unit. As described above withreference to FIGS. 1 to 48B, the electronic device according to theembodiments of the present disclosure have multiple different operatingmodes (such as the first mode, the second mode, and the third mode), andas shown in FIGS. 48A and 48B, in different operating modes, the display70 disposed on the electronic device will be covered differently, thusthere are different exposed regions. Therefore, multiple differentoperating modes of the electronic device may correspond to differentoperating modes, and different display content may be provided to thedisplay 70 according to different operating modes.

Therefore, the electronic device may further comprise a sensing unit(not shown) disposed in the first body 10 and/or the connecting body 30and/or the second body 20, and configured to detect a mode switchingand/or a mode switching manner of the electronic device; and a processer(not shown) disposed in the first body 10 and/or the connecting body 30and/or the second body 20, and configured to control a mode switching ofthe electronic device according to a mode switching and/or a modeswitching manner detected by the sensing unit.

Specifically, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown inFIG. 49A, the sensing unit comprises a photosensitive unit 80, thephotosensitive unit 80 comprises a light detecting array disposedcorresponding to a light emitting array of the display 70, and isconfigured to determine an exposed region of the display according to aregion that satisfies a predetermined luminance threshold in the lightdetecting array, so as to determine a mode of the electronic device.This is because in different modes of the electronic device, the displayis differently covered by the connecting body 30 and/or the second body20, and thereby has a different exposed region. Only the part disposedunder the outer region of the light detecting array will sense entry oflight that satisfies the predetermined luminance threshold, and thelight sensed by the other covered part of the light detecting array doesnot satisfy the predetermined luminance threshold. Therefore, the partthat detects the light that satisfies the predetermined luminancethreshold of the light detecting array corresponds to an exposed regionof the display 70 in a current mode.

In addition, the photosensitive unit 80 may further determine whether asize of the part sensing the light that satisfies the predeterminedluminance threshold of the light detecting array increases gradually orsharply. If the photosensitive unit 80 determines a size of the partsensing the light that satisfies the predetermined luminance thresholdof the light detecting array increases gradually, it should bedetermined that mode is switched with the first manner. On the otherhand, if the photosensitive unit determines size of the part sensing thelight that satisfies the predetermined luminance threshold of the lightdetecting array increases sharply, it should be determined that mode isswitched with the second manner.

In another embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in FIG. 49B,the sensing unit comprises a bending detecting sub-unit 90 disposed inthe connecting body 30 and configured to determine a mode of theelectronic device according to a state of the connecting body 30. Forexample, the bending detecting sub-unit 90 may be an angle sensor thatsenses a current bending angle of the connecting body 30. By settingspecific dimensions of the first body 10, the connecting body 30, andthe second body 20 in advance, after the current bending angle of theconnecting body 30 is sensed, it is possible to thereby determine acurrent mode of the electronic device.

In addition, the bending detecting sub-unit 90 may further detectrotation of the rotary shafts comprised in the connecting body 30.Specifically, as described above, the connecting body 30 may comprisemultiple rotary shafts. For example, if the bending detecting sub-unit90 detects that only some rotary shafts among the multiple rotary shaftsrotate while the others do not, and the rotary shafts that rotate changein sequence (e.g., 311, 312, 313 at a current moment, 312, 313, 314 in anext moment), then it should be determined that mode is switched withthe first manner. On the other hand, if the bending detecting sub-unit90 detects that all rotary shafts among the multiple rotary shaftsrotate, then it should be determined that mode is switched with thesecond manner.

In addition, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processercomprises a display control sub-unit (not shown), which switches displaycontent on the display according to a mode switching of the electronicdevice, and thereby adaptively provides the user with a display thatbest suits a current mode of the electronic device.

Herein, it should be noted that, the area of a first non-covered part ofthe display in the first mode is less than the area of a secondnon-covered part of the display in the second mode.

Next, different examples of switching of display content during a modeswitching will be described in detail.

As a first example, suppose that in the second mode, the display 70displays a third content. When the sensing unit detects that theelectronic device 1 switches from the second mode to the first mode withthe first manner described above, the display control sub-unit controlsthe display 70 to switch from displaying the third content to displayinga first content.

Because, as described above, area of a first non-covered part of thedisplay in the first mode is smaller than area of a second non-coveredpart of the display in the second mode, thus, the first content that canbe displayed in the first mode certainly is less than the second contentthat can be displayed in the second mode. Here, the first content is apart of the third content, and the first content is different than afirst sub-content of the third content, the first sub-content is acontent displayed in the second mode in the region where the firstcontent resides. That is to say, although the first content is a part ofthe third content, it is not simply cutting the third content as it is,instead, it is a simplified re-combination of respective items in thethird content. That is to say, when switching from the second mode tothe first mode with the first manner, it is possible to switch theelectronic device to amore simplified operating mode.

For example, FIG. 10A shows an example of the display content when theexposed region (i.e., non-covered part) of the display 70 is large,whereas FIG. 10B shows another example of the display content when theexposed region (i.e., non-covered part) of the display 70 is small. Asshown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, the third content may be a complete contentthat comprises playback control buttons (comprising play, pause, fastforward, etc.), a playback progress bar, lyrics, album covers, etc., andthe first content may be a simplified content that comprises only theplayback control buttons and the playback progress bar. Of course, inthe first content, layout of the playback control buttons and theplayback progress bar needs to be re-arranged.

It is usually recognized that, when the user changes from the secondmode to the first mode with the first manner, there is a highpossibility for the user to desire to further operate the electronicdevice, and since valid area that executes displaying of the displayreduces, thus displaying is switched to the simplified content displayto facilitate further operating of the user.

On the other hand, suppose in the first mode, the display 70 displaysthe first content. When the sensing unit detects that the electronicdevice 1 switches from the first mode to the second mode with the firstmanner described above, the display control sub-unit controls thedisplay 70 to switch from displaying the first content to displaying thethird content.

As a second example, suppose in the third mode, the display 70 displaysa fourth content, when the sensing unit detects that the electronicdevice 1 switches from the third mode to the first mode with the secondmanner described above, the display control sub-unit controls thedisplay 70 to switch from displaying the fourth content to displaying asecond content.

Different from that the first content and the third content in the firstexample are relevant, in the second example, the second content ispredetermined content, and the second content is irrelevant to thefourth content. Switching from the third mode to the first mode with thesecond manner can switch the electronic device to an operating moderequiring less power consumption and/or less operation procedures. Forexample, FIG. 10A shows an example of the display content when theexposed region (i.e., non-covered part) of the display 70 is large,whereas FIG. 10C shows another example of the display content when theexposed region (i.e., non-covered part) of the display 70 is small. Asshown in FIGS. 10A and 10C, the fourth content may be also a completecontent that comprises playback control buttons (comprising play, pause,fast forward, etc.), a playback progress bar, lyrics, album covers,etc., and the second content may be a screen lock interface.

It is usually recognized that, when the user changes the second mode tothe third mode with the second manner, there is a high possibility forthe user to desire to not operate the electronic device any more, thusthe electronic device is directly switched to a screen lock mode and thedisplay displays a screen lock interface so as to reduce powerconsumption effectively.

On the other hand, suppose in the first mode, the display 70 displaysthe second content. When the sensing unit detects that the electronicdevice 1 switches from the first mode to the third mode with the secondmanner described above, the display control sub-unit controls thedisplay 70 to switch from displaying the second content to displayingthe fourth content.

In the above, situations of switching between the first mode and thesecond mode with the first manner and switching between the first modeand the third mode with the second manner are respectively illustratedwith two independent examples. However, it is also possible to combinethe first example and the second example, that is, in one example, thesituations of switching between the first mode and the second mode withthe first manner and switching between the first mode and the third modewith the second manner are both comprised.

As a third example, suppose in the second mode, the display 70 displaysa fifth content. When the sensing unit detects that the electronicdevice 1 switches from the first mode to the second mode with the firstmanner described above, the display control sub-unit controls thedisplay 70 to switch from displaying the fifth content of the firstapplication to displaying a sixth content of the first application. Andsuppose in the third mode, the display 70 displays a seventh content ofthe first application. In the third example, what should be focused onis that display content will be different when switching to the firstmode with different manners (the first manner or the second manner) in acase where the same application is displayed in the second mode and thethird mode. Here, it should be noted that, since area of the secondnon-covered part of the display in the second mode is smaller than areaof the third non-covered part of the display in the third mode, thuseven if the same application is displayed in the second mode and thirdmode, content of the same application will be different slightly.Therefore, in the above, the two are differentiated with the fifthcontent of the first application and the seventh content of the firstapplication. When the sensing unit detects that the electronic device 1switches from the third mode to the first mode with the second manner,the display control sub-unit controls the display 70 to switch fromdisplaying the seventh content of the first application to displaying aneighth content of an application other than the first application,wherein the eighth content of the application other than the firstapplication is irrelevant to the seventh content of the firstapplication. For example, the eighth content of the application otherthan the first application may be a screen lock interface.

In this way, when the user changes the second mode to the first modewith the first manner, there is a high possibility for the user todesire to further operate the electronic device, and when the userchanges the third mode to the first mode with the second manner, thereis a high possibility for the user to desire to not operate theelectronic device any more, thus the display control sub-unit isconfigured to switch the display content from the fifth content of thefirst application to the sixth content thereof when switching the secondmode to the first mode with the first manner, wherein the sixth contentand the fifth content are relevant, so as to facilitate furtheroperating of the user, and the display control sub-unit is configured toswitch the display content from the seventh content of the firstapplication to the eighth content of an application other than the firstapplication when switching the third mode to the first mode with thesecond manner, so as to facilitate reducing power consumptioneffectively.

The sixth content of the first application may be generated in two waysbelow. Similar to the first example described above, the sixth contentof the first application may be a part of the fifth content of the firstapplication, but different than a first sub-content of the fifthcontent, the first sub-content is content displayed in the second modein the region where the fifth content resides. That is, the sixthcontent of the first application may be partially the same as the fifthcontent of the first application.

In addition, alternatively, the sixth content of the first applicationmay be generated based on the fifth content of the first application,wherein the sixth content is different than the fifth content. Forexample, the first application is a shopping application, and the fifthcontent of the first application in the second mode is commodityinformation. When the electronic device switches from the second mode tothe first mode with the first manner, the displayed sixth content of thefirst application is bar codes corresponding to the commodity.

Thus it can be seen that, after switching with the first manner, thesixth content may be the same as or completely different than the fifthcontent. However, the sixth content and the fifth content are relevantno matter the two are the same or not. In contrast, after switching withthe second manner, the eighth content and the seventh content are notthe same and are irrelevant.

As a fourth example, suppose that in the second mode, the display 70displays the fifth content of the first application. The display controlsub-unit is configured to further determine a type of the firstapplication, and based on the type of the first application, the displaycontrol sub-unit controls content displayed after switching.

Specifically, when the sensing unit detects that the electronic device 1switches from the second mode to the first mode, if the display controlsub-unit further determines that the type of the first application is acontinuous type, such as music player, navigation and otherapplications, then the display control sub-unit controls the display 70to display a sixth content of the first application, the sixth contentis a part of the fifth content, and it is different than a firstsub-content of the fifth content, the first sub-content is contentdisplayed in the second mode in the region where the fifth contentresides. For example, the display control sub-unit further determinesthat the type of the first application is a continuous type, then thedisplay control sub-unit controls to display a simplified interface ofthe first application, in the simplified interface, a part of thecomplete content is selected to display. For example, the firstapplication is a music player, after switching from the second mode tothe first mode, the first content changes into a part of contentselected from among a complete content of playback control buttons(comprising play, pause, fast forward, etc.), a playback progress bar,lyrics, album covers, etc., such as the playback control buttons and theplayback progress bar. Alternatively, the display control sub-unit mayalso control the display 70 to display a sixth content of the firstapplication, the sixth content is generated based on the first contentand is different than the fifth content. For example, if the displaycontrol sub-unit determines that the type of the first application is acontinuous type, then the display control sub-unit may also re-generatea simplified interface of the first application. For example, the firstapplication is a navigation application, after switching from the secondmode to the first mode, the first content changes into arrow navigation,the arrow navigation here is completely different than a completenavigation content displayed previously.

On the other hand, if the display control sub-unit determines that thetype of the first application is a non-continuous type, then the displaycontrol sub-unit controls the display 70 to display an eighth content ofan application other than the first application, wherein the eighthcontent of an application other than the first application is irrelevantto the fifth content of the first application. For example, if thedisplay control sub-unit determines that the type of the firstapplication is a non-continuous type, then the display control sub-unitcontrols the display 70 to display a screen lock interface.

In this way, when the user changes the second mode to the first mode ina case where the current running application is a continuous-typeapplication, there is a high possibility for the user to desire tofurther operate the electronic device 1, and when the user changes thesecond mode to the first mode in a case where the current runningapplication is a non-continuous-type application, there is a highpossibility for the user to desire to not operate the electronic deviceany more, thus the display control sub-unit is configured to switch thedisplay content from the fifth content of the first application to thesixth content thereof in the case where the current running applicationis a continuous-type application, wherein the sixth content and thefifth content are relevant, so as to facilitate further operating of theuser, and the display control sub-unit is configured to switch thedisplay content from the fifth content of the first application to theeighth content of an application other than the first application whenswitching from the second mode to the first mode in the case where thecurrent running application is a non-continuous-type application, so asto facilitate reducing power consumption effectively.

As a fifth example, suppose that in the second mode, the display 70displays the fifth content of the first application. Different than thedisplay control sub-unit is configured to further determine a type ofthe first application in the fourth example, in the fifth example, thedisplay control sub-unit is configured to further determine a type of anoperation that is being current executed, and based on the type of anoperation that is being current executed, the display control sub-unitcontrols content displayed after a switching. That is to say, even ifthe type of the application that is currently running is acontinuous-type application, but no continuous-type operation (such asexecuting music playing, executing a navigation, and other operations)is executed currently, then the displaying is still switched to theeighth content of an application other than the first application.

Specifically, when the sensing unit detects that the electronic device 1switches from the second mode to the first mode, if the display controlsub-unit further determines that the type of the operation is acontinuous type, such as executing music playing, executing a navigationand other operations, then the display control sub-unit controls thedisplay 70 to display a sixth content of the first application, thesixth content is a part of the fifth content, and it is different than afirst sub-content of the fifth content, the first sub-content is contentdisplayed in the second mode in the region where the fifth contentresides. For example, the display control sub-unit further determinesthat the type of the operation is a continuous type, then the displaycontrol sub-unit controls to display a simplified interface of the firstapplication. Alternatively, the display control sub-unit may alsocontrol the display 70 to display a sixth content of the firstapplication, the sixth content is generated based on the fifth contentand is different than the fifth content. For example, if the displaycontrol sub-unit determines that the type of the first operation is acontinuous type, then the display control sub-unit may also re-generatea simplified interface of the first application.

On the other hand, if the display control sub-unit determines that thetype of the operation is a non-continuous type, then the display controlsub-unit controls the display 70 to display an eighth content of anapplication other than the first application, wherein the eighth contentof an application other than the first application is irrelevant to thefifth content of the first application. For example, if the displaycontrol sub-unit determines that the type of the operation is anon-continuous type, then the display control sub-unit controls thedisplay 70 to display a screen lock interface.

In this way, when the user changes the second mode to the first mode inthe case where the type of an operation that is being currently executedis a continuous type, there is a high possibility for the user to desireto further operate the electronic device 1, and when the user changesthe second mode to the first mode in the case where the type of anoperation that is being currently executed is a non-continuous type,there is a high possibility for the user to desire to not operate theelectronic device any more, thus the display control sub-unit isconfigured to switch the fifth content of the first application to thesixth content thereof in the case where the type of an operation that isbeing current executed is a continuous type, wherein the sixth contentand the fifth content are relevant, so as to facilitate furtheroperating of the user, and the display control sub-unit is configured toswitch the fifth content of the first application to the eighth contentof an application other than the first application when switching thesecond mode to the first mode in the case where the type of an operationthat is being currently executed is a non-continuous type, so as tofacilitate reducing power consumption effectively.

Next, the specific process of mode switching method according to theembodiment of the disclosure is described with reference to FIG. 11. Asshown in FIG. 11, the mode switching method according to an embodimentof the present disclosure comprises steps provided below.

In step S1101, a mode switching and/or a mode switching manner of theelectronic device is detected. As described above, the electronic devicecomprises: a first body; a connecting body; a second body beingconnected to the first body through the connecting body; wherein basedon the connecting body, the electronic device has at least three modes,wherein in a first mode the first body and the second body have a firstrelative positional relationship, in a second mode the first body andthe second body have a second relative positional relationship, and in athird mode the first body and the second body have a third relativepositional relationship, the first relative positional relationship, thesecond relative positional relationship, and the third positionalrelationship are different from each other; and the electronic devicecan switch from the second mode to the first mode with a first manner,and switch from the third mode to the first mode with a second manner,wherein the first manner and the second manner are different. A modeswitching and/or a mode switching manner of the electronic device can bedetected by the sensing unit disposed in the first body and/or theconnecting body and/or the second body. Then, the process proceeds tostep S1102.

In step S1102, a mode switching of the electronic device is controlledaccording to a detected mode switching and/or mode switching manner.Then, the process proceeds to step S1103.

In step S1103, display content on a display of the electronic device isswitched according to a mode switching of the electronic device.

As a first example, suppose that in the second mode, the display 70displays a third content. When the electronic device 1 switching fromthe second mode to the first mode with the first manner described aboveis detected, the display 70 is controlled to switch from displaying thethird content to displaying a first content.

Because, as described above, area of a first non-covered part of thedisplay in the first mode is smaller than area of a second non-coveredpart of the display in the second mode, thus, the first content that canbe displayed in the first mode certainly is less than the second contentthat can be displayed in the second mode. Here, the first content is apart of the third content, and the first content is different than afirst sub-content of the third content, the first sub-content is acontent displayed in the second mode in the region where the firstcontent resides. That is to say, although the first content is a part ofthe third content, it is not simply cutting the third content as it is,instead, it is a simplified re-combination of respective items in thethird content.

On the other hand, suppose in the first mode, the display 70 displaysthe first content. When the electronic device 1 switching from the firstmode to the second mode with the first manner described above isdetected, the display 70 is controlled to switch from displaying thefirst content to displaying the third content.

As a second example, suppose in the third mode, the display 70 displaysa fourth content, when the electronic device 1 switching from the thirdmode to the first mode with the second manner described above isdetected, the display 70 is controlled to switch from displaying thefourth content to displaying a second content.

Different from that the first content and the third content in the firstexample are relevant, in the second example, the second content ispredetermined content, and the second content is irrelevant to thefourth content.

On the other hand, suppose in the first mode, the display 70 displaysthe second content. When the electronic device 1 switching from thefirst mode to the third mode with the second manner described above isdetected, the display 70 is controlled to switch from displaying thesecond content to displaying the fourth content.

As a third example, suppose in the second mode, the display 70 displaysa fifth content of a first application. When the electronic device 1switching from the first mode to the second mode with the first mannerdescribed above is detected, the display 70 is controlled to switch fromdisplaying the fifth content of the first application to displaying asixth content of the first application. And suppose in the third mode,the display 70 displays a seventh content of the first application. Inthe third example, what should be focused on is that display contentwill be different when switching to the first mode with differentmanners (the first manner or the second manner) in a case where the sameapplication is displayed in the second mode and the third mode. Here, itshould be noted that, since area of the second non-covered part of thedisplay in the second mode is smaller than area of the third non-coveredpart of the display in the third mode, thus even if the same applicationis displayed in the second mode and third mode, content of the sameapplication will be different slightly. Therefore, in the above, the twoare differentiated with the fifth content of the first application andthe seventh content of the first application. When the electronic device1 switching from the third mode to the first mode with the second manneris detected, the display 70 is controlled to switch from displaying theseventh content of the first application to displaying an eighth contentof an application other than the first application, wherein the eighthcontent of the application other than the first application isirrelevant to the seventh content of the first application. For example,the eighth content of the application other than the first applicationmay be a screen lock interface.

As a fourth example, suppose that in the second mode, the display 70displays the fifth content of the first application. The mode switchingmethod further includes determining a type of the first application, andbased on the type of the first application, controlling contentdisplayed after switching.

On the other hand, if the type of the first application is determined tobe a non-continuous type, then the display 70 is controlled to displayan eighth content of an application other than the first application,wherein the eighth content of an application other than the firstapplication is irrelevant to the fifth content of the first application.For example, if the type of the first application is determined to be anon-continuous type, then the display control sub-unit controls thedisplay 70 to display a screen lock interface.

As a fifth example, suppose that in the second mode, the display 70displays the fifth content of the first application. Different fromfurther determining a type of the first application in the fourthexample, in the fifth example, the mode switching method furtherincludes determining a type of an operation that is being currentexecuted, and based on the type of an operation that is being currentexecuted, controlling content displayed after switching. That is to say,even if the type of the application that is currently running is acontinuous-type application, but no continuous-type operation (such asexecuting music playing, executing a navigation, and other operations)is executed currently, then the displaying is still switched to theeighth content of an application other than the first application.

On the other hand, if the type of the operation is determined to be anon-continuous type, then the display 70 is controlled to display aneighth content of an application other than the first application,wherein the eighth content of an application other than the firstapplication is irrelevant to the fifth content of the first application.For example, if the type of the operation is determined to be anon-continuous type, then the display control sub-unit controls thedisplay 70 to display a screen lock interface.

Hereinabove, the electronic device and the mode switching method appliedto the electronic device according to the embodiments of the disclosurehave been described in details with reference to accompany figures. Bythe electronic device and the mode switching method applied to theelectronic device according to the embodiments of the disclosure,switching can be performed among three modes with two different manners,and the display content after switching can be controlled based on thedifferent switching manners, so that the usage mode is flexible and theuser's experience is high.

Through the above description of the implementations, a person skilledin the art can clearly understand that the present disclosure may beimplemented in a manner of software plus a necessary hardware platform,and of course the present disclosure may also be implemented fully byhardware. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of thepresent disclosure that contributes to the background art may beembodied in whole or in part in the form of a software product. Thecomputer software product may be stored in a storage medium, such asROM/RAM, disk, CD-ROM, and comprise several instructions for causing acomputer apparatus (which may be a personal computer, a server, or anetwork device) to perform the method described in the variousembodiments of the present disclosure or certain parts thereof.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the module may be realizedby software so as to be executed by various processors. For example, anidentified executable code module may comprise one or more physical orlogical units of the computer instructions, which may, for example, beconstructed as an object, a process or a function. Nevertheless, theexecutable codes of the identified module are not necessary to belocated together physically, and may comprise different instructionsstored at different locations, which may construct a module and achievethe predetermined purpose of the module when being combined togetherlogically.

When the module is realized by software, considering the existinghardware manufacture process, those skilled in the art may realize itsfunction by corresponding hardware circuits comprising the normal VLSIcircuit or the existing semiconductor such as a logical chip or atransistor, or other separate elements, without the consideration ofcost. The module may also be realized by a programmable hardware device,such as a field programmable gate array, a programmable array logic, ora programmable logical device, etc.

Although the present disclosure has been described in detail in theabove, specific examples are applied in this text to demonstrate theprinciples and implementations of the present disclosure, thesedescriptions of the above embodiments are only to help understand themethod of the present disclosure and its core concept. Meanwhile, for aperson with ordinary skill in the art, depending on the concepts of thepresent disclosure, modifications may be made to the specificimplementations and applications. To sum up, contents of thisspecification should not be construed as limiting the presentdisclosure.

The invention claimed is:
 1. An electronic device, comprising: a firstsection comprising a first end and a second end; a connecting sectioncomprising a third end and a fourth end, the third end being connectedto the second end; a second section comprising a fifth end and a sixthend, the fifth end being connected to the fourth end, the second sectionbeing capable of rotating round the first body through the connectingsection; a sensor disposed on the connecting section and configured todetermine a mode in which the electronic device is currently inaccording to a deformation state of the connecting section; and aprocessing unit; wherein the connecting section comprises a connectingsub-input unit which comprises a touch sensing unit and is configured toacquire an input operation, the electronic device comprises a third modein which the first section, the connecting section, and the secondsection approximately form a single plane, and a fourth mode in whichthe connecting section and the connecting sub-input unit are bent,wherein if the electronic device is in the third mode, the processingunit responds to an input acquired by the connecting sub-input unitaccording to an instruction in a third instruction set, the thirdinstruction set makes the connecting sub-input unit, the first sub-inputunit, and the second sub-input unit as an input unit in common; and ifthe electronic device is in the fourth mode, the processing unitresponds to an input acquired by the connecting sub-input unit accordingto an instruction in a fourth instruction set to control the firstsection and/or the second section, the fourth instruction set only makesthe connecting sub-input unit as an input unit, wherein the connectingsection comprises a rotary shaft through which the second section canrotate relative to the first section, and wherein the processerdetermines an input of the touch sensing unit, when a determinationresult shows that the input is a slide input along a rotary shaftdirection, a prescribed processing is executed.
 2. The electronic deviceas claimed in claim 1, wherein the first section comprises a firstsub-input unit configured to acquire an input operation; and the secondsection comprises a second sub-input unit configured to acquire an inputoperation.
 3. The electronic device as claimed in claim 2, wherein; eachof the first section, the connecting section, and the second sectioncomprises hefty has a first surface and a second surface that areopposite, the first sub-input unit is disposed on the first surface ofthe first section, the connecting sub-input unit is disposed on thefirst surface of the connecting section, the second sub-input unit isdisposed on the first surface of the second section, the electronicdevice comprises a first outer surface, which comprises the firstsurface of the first section, the first surface of the connectingsection and the first surface of the second section.
 4. The electronicdevice as claimed in claim 3, wherein the first outer surface comprisesa second input unit and the first sub-input unit, the connectingsub-input unit, and the second sub-input unit are three regions of thesecond input unit.
 5. The electronic device as claimed in claim 1,wherein the electronic device comprises the fourth mode in which thesecond surface of the first section faces the second surface of thesecond section.
 6. The electronic device as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe first surface of the first section comprises has a firstsub-display, and the processer comprises a display control processor,when the electronic device is in the fourth mode, the display controlprocessor controls display of the first sub-display in response to aninput acquired by the connecting sub-input unit.
 7. The electronicdevice as claimed in claim 6, wherein: a deformable first display isdisposed on the first outer surface of the electronic device, the firstsurface of the connecting section comprises a connecting sub-display,the first sub-display and the connecting sub-display are a first regionand a second region of the first display, respectively, the firstdisplay overlaps with at least a part of the second input unit.
 8. Acontrol method for an electronic device that comprises a first sectioncomprising a first end and a second end; a connecting section comprisinga third end and a fourth end, the third end being connected to thesecond end; a second section comprising a fifth end and a sixth end, thefifth end being connected to the fourth end, the second section beingcapable of rotating around the first section through the connectingsection; the connecting section comprising a connecting sub-input unitconfigured to acquire an input operation, wherein the connectingsub-input unit comprises a touch sensing unit; and a sensor disposed onthe connecting section and configured to determine a gesture which theelectronic device is currently in according to a deformation state ofthe connecting section; and the electronic device at least comprising athird mode in which the first surface of the first section, the firstsurface of the connecting section body, and the first surface of thesecond section approximately form a single plane, and a fourth mode inwhich the connecting section and the connecting sub-input unit are bentand the second surface of the first section faces the second surface ofthe second section, wherein the connecting section comprises a rotaryshaft through which the second section can rotate relative to the firstsection; wherein the method comprises: determining a mode which theelectronic device is currently in by the sensor; if the electronicdevice is in the third mode, responding to an input acquired by theconnecting sub-input unit according to an instruction in a thirdinstruction set, the third instruction set makes the connectingsub-input unit, the first sub-input unit, and the second sub-input unitas an input unit in common if the electronic device is in the fourthmode, responding to an input acquired by the connecting sub-input unitaccording to an instruction in a fourth instruction set to control thefirst section and/or the second section, the fourth instruction set onlymakes the connecting sub-input unit as an input unit, wherein the thirdinstruction set and the fourth instruction set are at least partiallydifferent, wherein the method further comprises: determining a touchinput on the touch sensing unit, when a determination result shows thatthe input is a slide input along a rotary shaft direction, executing aprescribed processing.
 9. The control method as claimed in claim 8,wherein the first surface of the first section of the electronic devicehas a first sub-display, and when the electronic device is in the fourthmode, controlling display of the first sub-display in response to aninput acquired by the connecting sub-input unit.